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The article presents information on the State University of New York (SUNY), New York, which has got a new chancellor to navigate its stormy seas. John R. Ryan, a former U.S. Navy Vice Admiral who joined the university six months ago as the chancellor, has earned a reputation as a gutsy leader due to his aggressive financial plan. Ryan asked the state to give the 64-campus system significant increases, including more than $156-million in new funds to hire full-time faculty members, expand honors programs, and meet other needs. Ryan has raised hopes among the state's higher-education leaders that his tenure will mark a defining period in SUNY's history. With fresh leadership within, and a new political environment on the way after the 2006 autumn elections, the nation's largest public-university system may have a chance to improve its quality and its national reputation, transcending its uneven past. For many years the SUNY system has endured a reputation for mediocrity, its pockets of excellence often obscured by the system's myriad campuses and programs of varied quality.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority released a cascade of grim financial assessments on Monday that mean delays in subway station renovations and other major improvements, as well as possible cutbacks in service and increases in fares and tolls. In a series of public meetings of authority board committees, officials said the authority would be forced to cut projects valued at $2.7 billion from its 2005-9 capital spending program, largely because of soaring costs on construction projects already under way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on the financing plan for school financing system, laid out by New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. The plan proposes equal distribution of money per student to all schools of similar sizes and demographics. According to the plan, schools will be categorized on the basis of different funding weights, which would be judged according to student characteristics including grade level, academic ability and poverty level.

The article reports on mass transit system that is experiencing political pressures in New York City. It is expected that the buses, subways and trains in the city are expected to turn reverse following the decision to cut increase in fares. To gain popularity during the recent elections in the U.S., Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority declared changes in the financial plan reducing the proposed 5% fare increase in subways, buses and trains to please voters.

Reports on the failure of private developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to come to an agreement on a financial plan and schedule for the reestablishment of Ground Zero in New York in 2006.

Reports on the release of the study on the four-year financial plan by the New York State Financial Control Board in New York City.

Profiles Jim Himes, a New York City-based financial specialist who provides services for people in poor neighborhoods including assistance for cashing checks, paying taxes and other personal finance chores. Career highlights; Fees charged.