Matthew Schuerman

Senior Editor, WNYC

Matthew Schuerman appears in the following:

$1.5 Billion of Stimulus Expected for NYC Transportation

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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 ...

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Paterson Says MTA's March 25th Deadline Firm

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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 ...

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Weiner Pushes Bridge Tax for Some Drivers

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

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 ...

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Deciding Who Pays to Rescue the MTA

Monday, March 09, 2009

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 ...

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Paterson Wants Stimulus for NY Rail

Monday, March 09, 2009

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 ...

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The Ghost of the MTA's 'Two Sets of Books'

Thursday, March 05, 2009

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.

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City Council Says Paterson Shortchanging NYC Medicaid

Thursday, March 05, 2009

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 ...

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MTA in Albany Urging Rescue Plan

Thursday, March 05, 2009

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 ...

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MTA Rescue Plan Hangs in Partisan Balance

Thursday, March 05, 2009

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 ...

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Skelos: Republicans Will Oppose MTA Plan

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

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 ...

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State Senators Seek Balance Over Bridge Tolls

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

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, ...

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Paterson: Save the MTA This Week

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

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 ...

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Developers Reduce Scale of Moynihan Station Plans

Monday, March 02, 2009

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, ...

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N.Y. Businesses Fight MTA Payroll Tax

Monday, February 16, 2009

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 ...

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Schumer: $21 Billion of Stimulus Package Expected for NYS

Friday, February 13, 2009

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 ...

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Atlantic Yards Developer Lobbying for Stimulus Slice

Friday, February 13, 2009

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 ...

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State Gets Stimulus Numbers

Thursday, February 12, 2009

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 ...

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The Silver Touch for the Fulton Transit Hub

Friday, February 06, 2009

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

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.)

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Delays Continue at the Former Deutsche Bank Building

Friday, February 06, 2009

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 ...

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Workers Again Cut Fire Protection System at Deutsche Building

Friday, February 06, 2009

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 ...

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