Matthew Schuerman

New York, NY —

The Brooklyn Bridge, subway stations and the Fulton Street Transit Center, all appear on the latest list of local projects that could receive federal stimulus money. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more.

REPORTER: The list is neither complete nor final. But it gives some idea of which ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson is continuing to push for quick passage of the MTA's rescue plan to avert significant service cuts and a dramatic fare increase. He insisted that the March 25th deadline set by the authority for the legislature's approval was a real one.

PATERSON: I think ...

New York, NY —

Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is running for Mayor, favors a $4.15 toll on East River bridges -- but only for some drivers. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more.

REPORTER: The tolls wouldn't apply to New York City residents. That makes the plan more palatable to three Democrats ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson released New York's plan to get federal stimulus money for high speed rail service. If the state got the money, the governor is proposing spending it to improve passenger rail service, from Niagara Falls to New York City. State officials say they've identified ...

New York, NY —

Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is running for Mayor, favors a $4.15 toll on East River bridges, but only for some drivers. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more. REPORTER: The tolls wouldn't apply to New York City residents. That makes the plan more palatable to three Democrats ...

The MTA just can't seem to live down the "two sets of books" scandal that erupted six years ago. Democrats in the state Senate keep dropping that line in interviews, as in, "You really can't trust guys who keep two sets of books, can you?" That's their reason why they won't support the Ravitch plan.

But were there really two sets of books?

The scandal started in April 2003, when then-state Comptroller Alan Hevesi (who has since succumbed to his own scandal), charged that the MTA was intentionally overestimating its budget deficit in order to justify a 50-cent subway fare hike. He said he only discovered where the MTA was stashing its money after subpoenaing the second set of books.

The MTA said the second set of books it provided was really just a 250-page explanation showing how the authority used a current surplus to pay down debt, or moved it to subsequent years, because they foresaw deficits in the future.

New York, NY —

By the end of this month, commuters and straphangers should know how much more it will cost to get in and out of New York City. MTA officials are back in Albany this morning where they are trying to hash out an agreement on a ...

New York, NY —

The MTA returns to the bargaining table in Albany this morning in an effort to hash out an agreement on it's rescue plan. So far, the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, says he's getting behind a limited bridge-tolling plan.

SILVER: I've said from Day One ...

New York, NY —

City Council members are decrying the way Governor Paterson allocated federal stimulus Medicaid money, saying the city deserves more than the $1.9 billion it's getting. Council members held a hearing on the stimulus money, hearing testimony from Bloomberg administration officials. They say they calculate that ...

New York, NY —

State Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos says no Republican will vote for the MTA rescue plan. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more.

REPORTER: While some New York City Democrats have been expressing concerns about the proposed tolls on the East River Bridges, Skelos says Republicans object to ...

New York, NY —

The fight over the tolls hinges on the state senate, where Democrats are hanging on to a one seat majority. WNYC's Matthew Scheurman looks at three Democrats trying to find a way to support the bill.

REPORTER: The three Democrats won seats from Republicans last November, ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson says this is the week to save the MTA. He says the state legislature has to agree on a plan to impose a new payroll tax, and East River bridge tolls, before negotiations can begin on the state's $13 billion budget deficit.

PATERSON: We ...

New York, NY —

The two real estate developers involved in the proposed Moynihan Station project say they're toning down their once grand plans for the Farley Post office at 33rd and 8th. By WNYC's Matthew Schuerman reports on a plan that is very much in flux.

REPORTER: The developers, ...

New York, NY —

While many New York City lawmakers are protesting a proposal to put tolls on East River bridges that are currently free, their counterparts in the northern suburbs are finding problems with another part of the plan to bail out the MTA. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has ...

New York, NY —

Long before the federal stimulus plan took its final form today, the developer of Atlantic Yards was lobbying in Washington for a piece of it. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more.

REPORTER: For weeks now, blogs and local newspapers have speculated that the troubled real estate project ...

New York, NY —

Senator Charles Schumer says New York State is getting at least $21 billion from the federal stimulus bill for Medicaid, education and public housing improvements. Other allocations have yet to be tabulated. He says part of money should go to saving some state jobs.

SCHUMER: For ...

New York, NY —

Officials say money from the federal stimulus bill will help but not eliminate the fiscal crisis facing New York State and City.

Senator Charles Schumer says the 2 year package would bring New York state more than $4 billion in education aid, which is enough to ...

An early design of the Fulton Street Transit Center. Courtesy of the MTA.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is taking credit for getting the MTA to devote half a billion dollars of federal stimulus money to the Fulton Street Transit Center. Last week, he told reporters he complained to the governor's office when the transit hub, which is in Silver's lower Manhattan district, did not appear on the first list of projects that were being considered as potential recipients of the funds. The allocation of the federal money to the hub, which is wildly over budget, then grew to $201 million and now stands at $497 million.

(The audio here is supplied courtesy of reporter Eliot Brown of The New York Observer, who wrote about the stimulus bill this week.)

New York, NY —

Limited decontamination work resumed at the former Deutsche Bank building, a day after contractors accidentally cut a 5-foot section of the standpipe.

A spokesman for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which owns the building, says the section of standpipe was not painted red.

That may have made ...

New York, NY —

Workers mistakenly cut a standpipe at the former Deutsche Bank building at the World Trade Center site yesterday morning, in an eerie echo of the circumstances that led to a fatal fire there two years ago.

This time, Fire Department spokesman Jim Long says nearby units ...