Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about David Paterson

Lee Sander Stepping Down

By Brad Aaron | May 7, 2009 | 23 Comments

From the MTA press office: Governor Paterson today accepted the resignation of MTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Sander. Mr. Sander offered his resignation to the Governor earlier this year in anticipation of yesterday’s passage of legislation that joins the Chairman and CEO positions at the MTA. Mr. Sander’s resignation is effective May 22, […]

Malcolm Smith Spins Transit Band-aid as Victory for “Reform”

By Ben Fried | May 5, 2009 | 9 Comments

Now that Governor Paterson has backtracked on his pledge to secure a long-term solution to New York’s transit funding crisis, the push is on to spin the slapdash result as a responsible outcome, not a capitulation to Albany’s lowest common denominator. Courtesy of Liz Benjamin, here’s Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith emerging from last night’s […]

Bloomberg: MTA Plan Must Include Funding for Capital Projects

By Ben Fried | May 4, 2009 | 8 Comments

The mayor’s office just released a statement insisting that the MTA financing plan address the transit system’s long-term needs: As discussions for a permanent funding plan for the MTA continue, stop-gap measures that kick the big problems down the road must be rejected. For any plan to truly meet the needs of the metropolitan region’s […]

Paterson Abandons Long-Term MTA Financing Effort

By Ben Fried | May 4, 2009 | 12 Comments

We’re getting dangerously close to transit Armageddon. Seeking a quick resolution to the MTA funding crisis, Governor Paterson lobbied over the weekend to get a Band-aid fix through the State Senate. The problem is, Paterson’s plan provides no resolution at all. Fundamental details of the proposal are still sketchy, even as the governor pushes for […]

Don’t Keep Transit Riders in the Dark, Governor

By Ben Fried | May 1, 2009 | 6 Comments

MTA CEO Lee Sander, MTA Board Chair Dale Hemmerdinger, and Governor Paterson at a March press conference. Heading into the weekend, Governor Paterson is still keeping a tight lid on exactly how he plans to handle the MTA’s huge funding shortfall. Lately, Paterson has taken to joking about this crisis by saying that "light bends […]

Albany and City Hall Slouch Toward MTA Endgame

By Ben Fried | May 1, 2009 | 14 Comments

Let’s recap the last week of the MTA funding saga. On Monday, Malcolm Smith and the Senate Democrats introduced a "conversation starter" bill that had already been lambasted as insufficient and backwards. On Tuesday, the MTA finance committee announced that revenues from taxes and fares have plummeted deeper than expected, turning the $1.2 billion doomsday […]

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