Matthew Schuerman

Senior Editor, WNYC

Matthew Schuerman appears in the following:

Mayor Iffy on Cuomo Sandy Buyout Proposal

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Governor Cuomo's proposal to use federal Sandy aid to buy out Sandy-damaged homes will likely need Mayor Bloomberg's assent. So far, he hasn't given it.

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City Promotes Film While Fighting the Film's Makers in Court

Thursday, January 31, 2013

The city is paying for subway ads and posters in bus shelters to promote the Ken Burns film "The Central Park Five" as part of a "Made in NY" marketing campaign intended to promote local productions. Meanwhile, the city's Law Department is pursuing a legal case to obtain raw footage from the film as part of a legal defense. 

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From Salt Marshes to Sea Barriers, Preparing for the Next Sandy Defense

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

“If Sandy had happened three weeks before when it did,” she said, “we would have lost the Belt Parkway.”

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Bloomberg Officials Say City's Response to Sandy Took 'Some Time'

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

In a tacit acknowledgment that it took too long to get emergency supplies to neighborhoods that were hard-hit by Sandy, Bloomberg administration officials said they are taking a close look at its disaster preparedness plans.

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Cuomo Panel Says 'Maybe' to Massive Hurricane Barrier

Friday, January 11, 2013

An expert panel's preliminary report does not make New York’s solution to climate change look easy.

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NYS Commission Recommends Balloons, Buses, and More to Fight the Next Sandy

Monday, January 07, 2013

A state commission appointed by Governor Cuomo is recommending a wide variety of infrastructure improvements, from giant balloons that would inflate inside subway tunnels to more sens...

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New Ideas for Protecting New York Harbor

Friday, January 04, 2013

"Hard" edges like hurricane barriers pose a host of problems even while they promise a lot of protection against severe storms. Landscape architects are looking at other possibilities to complement or replace them.

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Predicting When the Next Sandy Will Hit

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Maps detailing actual and expected flooding show that Sandy’s storm surge exceeded many of the 100-year flood zones, seeping into places previously considered safe. Are the flood ...

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$60B Sandy Relief Bill Advances in Senate

Friday, December 21, 2012

Senate Democrats said Friday they have enough votes to approve a more than $60 billion Sandy relief bill, overcoming objections that it includes too many pet projects unrelated to the storm.

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Climate Change Fears Meet Development at the New Hudson Yards

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

After nearly a decade of planning and debate, ground was finally broken last week on a set of office and apartment towers that will be built on a platform above an MTA rail yard. But ...

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Bloomberg's Waterfront Development Comes Under Scrutiny from Sandy's Impact

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Sandy is making planners, architects and scientists take another look at Mayor Bloomberg's effort to put high-rise apartments on New York City's waterfront. They say measures meant to...

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Grading the Mayor: How Bloomberg Handled Sandy

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sandy was a natural disaster extreme in scope, and numerous people — from President Barack Obama to firefighters, police officers, nurses, subway workers and volunteers — were part of the New York region's storm response. But no single figure played a more central role than did Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He doesn't control the transit system, or the purse strings at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But he worked with the people who do. So we asked five New Yorkers to grade Bloomberg on his performance.

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WTC Site Floods, But Officials Say Buildings Will Be Hurricane-Proof

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Millions of gallons of water streamed into the World Trade Center site during Sandy, cascading through the PATH terminal and down ramps used for construction vehicles. But officials say the prognosis for flooding, and any other hurricane damage, should be much better once the 16-acre redevelopment is complete.

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Living on the Edge

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Look at a New York City evacuation map and you’ll notice something about many of the red areas along the water’s edge: they correspond to areas that the Bloomberg administration hopes will catch on as new residential neighborhoods.

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Mayor to Re-Start Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Mayor Michael Bloomberg will once again try to get the 575,000-square-foot former National Guard armory in the Kingsbridge Section of the Bronx redeveloped, according to a city hall spokesman.

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Behind the Post-9/11 Transformation of the Financial District

Thursday, September 08, 2011

WNYC
A downtown rebirth. 

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MTA's Port Jervis Route Off-Line Indefinitely

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

WNYC

Train service on the Port Jervis Line has been suspended due to the catastrophic damage to the track and signal system caused by Tropical Storm Irene. MTA Chairman Jay Walder invoked emergency powers to rebuild large stretches of track virtually from scratch along the Port Jervis line on the Western side of the Hudson River.

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Records Show Espada Was Senate's Biggest Spender

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Records show that scandal-plagued Pedro Espada, Jr. went on a taxpayer-funded spending spree in his final three months as a state Senator from the Bronx last year.

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King's New York Connection: MLK Jr.'s Friendship With Stanley Levison

Monday, January 17, 2011

WNYC

One of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most important political advisors, Stanley Levison, has remained largely hidden from public view — even 40 years after King’s death.

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Amtrak, NJ Transit Talks Break Down

Friday, November 12, 2010

(Matthew Schuerman, WNYC) Talks between Amtrak and New Jersey Transit over an abandoned commuter train tunnel have broken down just two weeks after they began.

The two parties began discussions late last month, shortly after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie abandoned the tunnel over cost concerns. The talks addressed, among other issues, whether Amtrak would be willing to buy land that New Jersey Transit had acquired to construct the tunnel—and which the state may try to sell in order to recoup some of the $600 million that’s been spent on the project so far.

“Those talks have concluded and at this point Amtrak is not in talks to revive that tunnel project nor use the property for high speed rail initiatives,” Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.

A spokesman for New Jersey Transit, Paul Wyckoff, said, “We’re all interested in exploring affordable alternatives to the trans-Hudson challenge.”

Christie canceled the Access to the Region's Core tunnel last month because he didn't want New Jersey to be primarily responsible for cost overruns on the $10 billion to $13 billion project.

The governor is fighting with the Obama administration over just how much money it needs to reimburse the federal government for money that’s been spent on the project, now that it won’t go forward. The U.S. Department of Transportation this week billed the state for $271 million but New Jersey Transit disputes the amount.

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