Matthew Schuerman

Senior Editor, WNYC

Matthew Schuerman appears in the following:

MTA to Hold Hearings Prior to Closing Booths

Friday, June 04, 2010

A Manhattan judge has ruled that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) can not close subway token booths or fire more than 200 station agents without first holding public hearings.

Comment

Judge Rules MTA Must Hold Hearings Prior to Closing Token Booths

Friday, June 04, 2010

A state judge is forcing the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to postpone its plan to layoff hundreds of station agents. Civil court Judge Saliann Scarpulla made the ruling Friday, saying that the MTA didn't hold sufficient public hearings on its plan to ...

Comment

Smart Cards Coming to City's Subways and Buses

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

The region's three transit agencies launched a "smart card" pilot today, saying it would cut down on their operating costs and make commuting more convenient for riders.

If it works, the technology could lead to the demise of the MetroCard and the rise of an interstate ...

Comments [1]

Remembering Our Soldiers--Memorial Day in the City

Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day in the region was marked by parades, ceremonies, picnics and a helicopter demonstration that went awry leaving 10 observers with minor injuries.

The helicopter was an Osprey MV-22 taking part in a Fleet Week event at Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park. As the vehicle ...

Comment

MTA Pilots New Smart Cards

Monday, May 31, 2010

Beginning Tuesday, the MTA will pilot a new payment system on some bus and subway lines that will turn certain types of MasterCards into MetroCards.

Instead of swiping, owners of credit and debit cards embedded with computer chips will be able to tap the cards against ...

Comments [1]

A New Route for the M Line

Friday, May 28, 2010

The MTA is cutting subway and bus service in a number of places--but a mile-long subway tunnel on the Lower East Side is actually being revived.

The tunnel will be used to weld together the eastern branch of the M line and the V line. The ...

Comment

After Layoffs, MTA Overtime Is Up

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The MTA originally wanted to lay off 475 agents because of budget pressures, but settled for 260 after a judge blocked the authority's plan to close some station booths open.

Maurice Jenkins, a vice president with the Transport Workers Union Local 100, says that turned out to be too ...

Comments [1]

City Takes Another Pass at a Living Wage Bill

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

More than 20 City Council members are signing on to a bill that would require workers at any new city-subsidized real estate project to receive a "living wage," $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 an hour without benefits.

The bill was introduced Tuesday by Bronx ...

Comment

Watch Your Step: Low-Floor Buses Causing Injuries

Monday, May 24, 2010

Low-floor buses have fewer steps than regular buses, but passengers are stumbling anyway. The MTA says 75 people got injured on low-floor buses over a 12-month period. Most of those injuries occurred while passengers were getting off. That's apparently because riders have a false sense ...

Comment

MTA: Bus Drivers Take Two Months Paid Leave After Being Spit On

Monday, May 24, 2010

MTA officials are pressuring the Transport Workers Union to make sacrifices to help out the authority's budget crisis.

The MTA is increasingly publicizing embarrassing facts about union members' behavior. Last week, it was about those who abused overtime. Monday, it was how 51 bus drivers had ...

Comment

NJ Transit Begins Weekday Service Cuts

Monday, May 24, 2010

Some New Jersey Transit trains may be a bit more crowded than usual this morning. The agency's cutting 31 weekday trains, or four percent of the daily load, in order to plug an ongoing budget deficit.

Spokesman Dan Stessel says most riders won't feel the service ...

Comment

Port Auth. Buys Jersey City Rail Yard

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Port Authority's spending $120 million in federal and local funds to buy and upgrade a rail yard in Jersey City, New Jersey. It could end up serving two potential New York City projects.

Mayor Bloomberg has been trying to put New York City's trash on ...

Comment

Third Deputy Mayor to Step Down

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Bob Lieber is stepping down after two and a half years at City Hall. He's the third deputy mayor to leave since Mayor Michael Bloomberg was elected to a third term last November.

Lieber lived in the shadow of his forceful ...

Comment

Tenants Warned to Stay Off Balconies at 16 NYC Buildings

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Buildings Department is prohibiting residents at 16 buildings across the city from using their balconies, and that number could go up. That's because inspections so far have found the balconies to be unsafe.

Gibran Baydoun moved into a building on East 39th Street in Manhattan ...

Comment

Taking the Sea-Line to the Atlantic

Monday, May 17, 2010

Sea Turtle on the 7
Image courtesy of Robert Martore and Matthew Malina

Over the past nine years, hundreds of New York City's old, graffiti-covered subway cars have made their final trip: from the top of ...

Comment

Port Authority Plans to Build Wind Farm

Monday, May 17, 2010

The Port Authority is planning on creating a wind farm on one of its shipping piers in New Jersey. The five windmills would help power the port's cargo operations.

A private company would build and maintain five 288-foot-high wind turbines. They'd be located on the New ...

Comment

Walder: Let's Close Down Lines for Subway Repair. Oops -- Never Mind

Thursday, May 13, 2010

MTA Chairman Jay Walder gave transit reporters a good story this afternoon. Then, within hours, his press office had taken it away.

At the end of an informal briefing about budget cuts, a reporter asked Walder about the city and state comptrollers deciding to audit the way the MTA disrupts ...

Comments [1]

Judge in Station Agents Case Questions MTA Stance

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The state judge hearing a case affecting hundreds of subway station agents reacted skeptically to the MTA's arguments in a court appearance today. Judge Salliann Scarpullo repeatedly asked the authority's lawyers why they didn't hold additional public hearings this year on their plans to close ...

Comment

MTA Starts Laying Off Subway Agents

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority laid off 260 subway station agents today as part of efforts to address a nearly $800 million deficit. Because of seniority rules, most of those who received pink slips had worked for four years or less.

Sadeque Ahmed, a Bangladeshi immigrant with ...

Comment

Investigation Into Ferry Crash Continues

Monday, May 10, 2010

Federal investigators have finished their third day investigating Saturday's Staten Island Ferry crash -- but have yet to draw any conclusions about what caused it.

A member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Robert Sumwalt, told reporters that the the ferry's crew appeared to be trying ...

Comment