New York

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority hopes to return to deals structured with level debt service when it goes to market next week, its staff said yesterday. The agency plans to sell $650 million of transportation revenue bonds as a mix of tax-exempt bonds and taxable Build America Bonds on Feb. 3.

New York City continues to gush water bonds with a $400 million deal expected to price tomorrow and another $327.1 million next week.

The New York State Thruway Authority authorized up to $1 billion of bonds secured by the state’s second general resolution dedicated highway and bridge trust fund at its monthly board meeting yesterday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday called on state lawmakers to protect the city from proposed cuts in the proposed budget. New York Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday proposed cutting $302 million of local aid to the city in his fiscal 2011 executive budget.

New York Gov. David ­Paterson proposed an all-funds $134 billion fiscal 2011 budget yesterday that keeps spending growth below 1%. The proposed budget would close a $7.4 billion deficit primarily through a series of cuts, but also through tax and fee increases.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will begin consolidating internal departments and maximizing its resources to produce savings and make the system more efficient, agency chairman and chief executive officer Jay Walder announced Friday.

The New York Legislature yesterday offered an ethics and campaign finance reform package with much less punch than a proposal offered by Gov. David Paterson last week.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to repeat a novel approach to accessing low rates at a time when liquidity costs makes traditional variable-rate financing pricey.

The expiration two years ago of the law allowing the 116 industrial development agencies in New York to sell bonds on behalf of nonprofits is changing the landscape for borrowers and issuers.

The Empire State Development Corp., one of New York’s largest issuers of bonds, could be merged with the state Department of Economic Development under a proposal announced by Gov. David Paterson yesterday. The new entity would be called the Job Development Corp.

The risk of a downgrade to New York’s general obligation debt isn’t being priced into the state’s bonds, an investment management firm said in a report released Friday.

Two of New York’s top affordable housing officials have landed at private firms after announcing their resignations from public posts last month.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority should prioritize which services could be restored if the New York Legislature finds additional funding, a state lawmaker said at a hearing yesterday.

New York Gov. David Paterson yesterday called on the Legislature to change the way it crafts budgets in order to address the state’s fiscal mess.

Gary Dellaverson, chief financial officer of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, retired last week after 19 years at the agency.

Across the country and in New York City, museums and other cultural institutions are trying to cope with lower revenue brought on by big declines in donations and losses on investments even as admissions hold steady.

Incoming New York City Comptroller John Liu is keeping deputy comptroller for public finance Carol Kostik in her current job of working with the mayor’s budget office to put together the city’s bond deals.

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority's revenue bonds and dedicated tax-fund bonds to negative from stable last week.

When federal stimulus money runs out after 2010, New York school districts could face a $2 billion funding gap, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said last week.

The Brooklyn Arena Development Corp. on Wednesday closed on the sale of $511 million of tax-exempt bonds to partially finance the controversial $1.06 billion Barclays Center in Brooklyn.