Still, the governor’s rhetoric has often proved overblown: At Riverbend, a state-funded $750 million solar plant, Mr. Cuomo promised at least 3,000 jobs. Tesla, which runs the plant, now employs about a fifth of that number — between 600 and 700 employees — working with Panasonic, which is a subtenant. And last month, amid concerns about its solar operations, Tesla said that it would trim its work force by nearly 10 percent, though it is not clear if Riverbend’s work force will suffer.

At an I.B.M. “innovation hub” where the governor said 500 people would be employed in information technology jobs, the actual number is about half that, according to company officials, with many working for subcontracted agencies and earning between $30,000 to $40,000 a year.

In Niagara Falls, the Wonder Falls resort, a planned $150 million project that includes an indoor water park and 300-room hotel, was to create “1,500 direct and indirect jobs” during construction, and 300 more permanent positions, the governor said in 2013.

The project, however, hasn’t even broken ground; an empty former mall and a parking garage remain on the site, though state and company officials said it is still in the works.

A similar disappointment can be seen at Daemen College, in Amherst, N.Y., where Mr. Cuomo announced in July 2013 that the college and a chosen private partner, Empire Visual Effects, would “create 150 new visual effects and other postproduction jobs within five years,” as part of a new a vision outlined by the governor “of transforming upstate and western New York into a major film, animation and postproduction destination for the industry.”

But only a handful of students ever found full-time jobs with the company, which no longer has offices in Buffalo and “failed to meet the partnership goals,” according to the college. Calls and emails to the company were not returned.

Even some success stories come with asterisks. Athenex, a Buffalo-based pharmaceutical firm, is involved in two Buffalo Billion projects: its headquarters in an office in downtown Buffalo — a $25 million improvement project paid for with state money — and a $200 million state commitment to a new plant in Dunkirk, N.Y.