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Chairman Prendergast to Retire...


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ALBANY — The long-awaited opening of the Second Ave. subway is

expected to be the end of the line for MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast.

Three sources say Prendergast, who has headed the MTA since 2013, is set to retire
early this year. One source said his departure could come as soon as this month.

 

A Prendergast spokeswoman had no comment. But a source with knowledge of his

plans confirmed the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is leaving.

 
Read more: Source

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If true, this is not good. Prendergast has a wealth of knowledge about how the system works and all of its various components. He is a "transit man" who acknowledges the details.

 

I really hope whoever replaces him is cut from the same cloth. The amount of stupidity that occurs when someone "business minded" who doesn't know the TA's structure or the logistics of running service, is staggering. Prendergast has been a fine chairman.

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ALBANY — The long-awaited opening of the Second Ave. subway is

expected to be the end of the line for MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast.

 

Three sources say Prendergast, who has headed the MTA since 2013, is set to retire

early this year. One source said his departure could come as soon as this month.

 

A Prendergast spokeswoman had no comment. But a source with knowledge of his

plans confirmed the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is leaving.

 

Read more: Source

 

 

I find it very interesting that Cuomo made the announcement. Is he upset that the media is giving Prendergast too much credit for Second Avenue?

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If true, this is not good. Prendergast has a wealth of knowledge about how the system works and all of its various components. He is a "transit man" who acknowledges the details.

 

I really hope whoever replaces him is cut from the same cloth. The amount of stupidity that occurs when someone "business minded" who doesn't know the TA's structure or the logistics of running service, is staggering. Prendergast has been a fine chairman.

 

Yeah, he was a lifer and that meant some real knowledge of the actual TA. Hakim over at Transit is the one I might bet on, and she's definitely got experience between NJT and the TA, but then again she began as an attorney and her knowledge is not quite as hands-on as Prendergast.

 

Honestly though, with this governor, it could be some loyal incompetent whom Cuomo wants to put in as a reward. I have low hopes. 

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Yeah, he was a lifer and that meant some real knowledge of the actual TA. Hakim over at Transit is the one I might bet on, and she's definitely got experience between NJT and the TA, but then again she began as an attorney and her knowledge is not quite as hands-on as Prendergast.

 

Honestly though, with this governor, it could be some loyal incompetent whom Cuomo wants to put in as a reward. I have low hopes. 

 

To be fair, sometimes loyalists with no transit experience are not such a bad thing. I don't remember Lhota being particularly awful, particularly in contrast with the Walder era.

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Actually NY1 broke it first, but no one watches In Transit, lol

 

NY1 merely reported the announcement. It was Cuomo who made the announcement.

Hakim over at Transit is the one I might bet on, and she's definitely got experience between NJT and the TA, but then again she began as an attorney and her knowledge is not quite as hands-on as Prendergast.

 

She seems smart enough to listen to the people who have operating knowledge.

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To be fair, sometimes loyalists with no transit experience are not such a bad thing. I don't remember Lhota being particularly awful, particularly in contrast with the Walder era.

Lhota was a good guy--from what I heard, he was willing to listen to people with more experience. But I'm no insider. I happened to stumble upon his name recently, now he's working at NYU medical center in charge of operations or something.

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I'm gonna defer to the active NYCT folks on his tenure as (MTA) chairman. I personally liked David Gunn because he would stop and converse with the RTO people he encountered daily around the Grand Central shuttle platform and the tower along the passageway. That's a big difference compared to how some of the people on the LIRR felt about Mr Prendergast when he was President of the railroad. Supposedly someone took a #2 on his desk to show him what some of the RR folks thought about him. As someone pointed out in an earlier post no matter how the chairman does he/she gets the blame while the Governor of New York gets the credit. It's a fact of life. Carry on.

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To be fair, sometimes loyalists with no transit experience are not such a bad thing. I don't remember Lhota being particularly awful, particularly in contrast with the Walder era.

 

Lhota wasn't in long enough to objectively evaluate. And compared to Walder, a deaf mute who thought the TA was a Lionel set and a Corgi model, would have been an improvement.

NY1 merely reported the announcement. It was Cuomo who made the announcement.

 

She seems smart enough to listen to the people who have operating knowledge.

 

Seconded on "Ronnie" Hakim. She's shown an even handed and thoughtful approach while giving weight to the thoughts and opinions of the right people, so far.

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I agree with the other posters that the next Chairman will be Veronique Hakim as she is a former MTA worker who went over to NJT and then came back. this leads me to the opinion that she was being groomed for a higher level position when she returned to the MTA

As far as her being a lawyer and not a person with experience in the field, it will not be held against her by the people that will have to confirm her to the position.As long as Cuomo gives his blessing, she will get the position.

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The difficult thing to speculate on is that Prendergast, though it wasn't his intention, made Cuomo look bad several times just by happenstance simply by understanding and doing his job to the best of his abilities, when it conflicted with things coming out of the governor's mouth.

 

I have no idea who it will be, nor do I care to speculate, I'm only posting my own opinions about Ms. Hakim from her recent time back at the TA.

 

Regardless of her qualifications, there is always the chance Cuomo appoints a "yes man" or "yes woman" which would be a disaster. I don't personally feel Ms. Hakim would be that sort of leader, and that is very much to her credit.

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When Cuomo says "he wants a person with real estate experience", it means that he is running again in 2018 and real estate means campaign contributions as the Real Estate Industry donates big dollars when ti comes to Albany..I would take an interest in some of the other names besides Ms. Hakim that are being mentioned as all are Cuomo loyalists which is not what the MTA needs at this time.There are many high ranking individuals at the MTA besides Ms. Hakim who would be preferred over the names being mentioned but since we do not know if they are part of  Cuomo's inner circle, the I can presume that , they have no chance of getting the job.

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When Cuomo says "he wants a person with real estate experience", it means that he is running again in 2018 and real estate means campaign contributions as the Real Estate Industry donates big dollars when ti comes to Albany..I would take an interest in some of the other names besides Ms. Hakim that are being mentioned as all are Cuomo loyalists which is not what the MTA needs at this time.There are many high ranking individuals at the MTA besides Ms. Hakim who would be preferred over the names being mentioned but since we do not know if they are part of  Cuomo's inner circle, the I can presume that , they have no chance of getting the job.

Aside from that I agree with him that someone with real estate experience would be helpful for upcoming construction projects.  Given what we've seen with some of the recent subway disasters, I'd say it's a must.  Maybe he or she can then appoint some competent management to oversee the next phase of projects.  It's mind boggling to me that we're in a city with ENDLESS construction and somehow we can't get subway projects right, and yes I know it's underground, but overall, we have a history of doing things quickly and efficiently on the construction end (at least on the private side anyway), so obviously we have the companies here that can carry out the construction.

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This should be very interesting and I think that while our posters have not stated it directly, the person chosen will have to defer to Andrew Cuomo's ego which is quite huge. The impression that I have of the governor is one who has to have total control and that works against the interest of the public. as it eliminates good quality candidates who value their independence.

The names being mentioned, Pat Foye and Bart Schwartz, are political cronies which lead me to believe would have if Joe Percoco and Todd Howe had not been indicted, it is quite possible that their names would be mentioned for the MTA position.The reason that I feel that the new chairperson should come from the MTA as anyone who is associated with Andrew Cuomo has to be looking over his/her shoulder as there is a federal grand jury that is still investigating Andrew Cuomo and his friends.If you read Capitol Confidential (Albany Times-Union) and Kenneth Lovett in the New York Daily News on a regular basis, it becomes clear that the investigations about his dealings upstate are quite hot at this time.

One last comment:The MTA had a great person from the real estate industry, His name was Richard Ravitch and who can forget what he did for the system. So yes! If the MTA can find a person of his caliber that is not politically tainted, then the person should be considered

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a real estate person would be an absolute disaster. SAFETY AND SERVICE are the #1 and #2 priorities in any transportation system. A real estate person is always looking for opportunities for profit, and monetizing every possible space.

 

Monetizing does not mean profitability, nor does it mean effective cost management. All it means is spending resources trying to bring in more revenue. If successful, it does not mean the person knows HOW to deploy revenue, except in other revenue generating initiatives.

 

If the person doesn't understand SAFETY AND SERVICE, they can never deploy resources correctly or intelligently since things that bring in money in real estate like "improved signage" "better lighting" etc. don't actually bring in revenue in a transit system. Additionally, a real estate person will be much more likely to waste resources on things that don't promote better transportation in the region creating a budget crunch on an agency that is already intentionally run at a loss as a public benefit to enable economic activity in the region.

 

Ravitch was in a different era where the issue was the complete and utter lack of government funding for the TA. That's not the issue now. They don't need a bulldog to fight for more funding, while that'd be nice. They need someone who can lead the MTA in a new direction and promote greater accountability by contractors to stick to budget, as well as push for system expansion, defend existing employee protections and benefits (which are good for the system overall...you want a workforce that is paid well as it tends to be more competent), and has the discerning eye to lay out a roadmap for the TA that incorporates aspects of technology where feasible but without blindly putting technology everywhere, much of which will be useless.

 

That requires operating knowledge, or the willingness to listen to those who have it.

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When Cuomo says "he wants a person with real estate experience", it means that he is running again in 2018 and real estate means campaign contributions as the Real Estate Industry donates big dollars when ti comes to Albany..I would take an interest in some of the other names besides Ms. Hakim that are being mentioned as all are Cuomo loyalists which is not what the MTA needs at this time.There are many high ranking individuals at the MTA besides Ms. Hakim who would be preferred over the names being mentioned but since we do not know if they are part of  Cuomo's inner circle, the I can presume that , they have no chance of getting the job.

Not to mention Cuomo is likely thinking ahead to a 2020 Presidential Campaign AND likely feeling he has the ability to if necessary LEGALLY go after the President-Elect's business empire if he thinks Trump has gone too far as President.

 

To me, Cuomo may prove to be the big winner of this Presidential Election and love or hate him, he is to me the one Governor who might actually try to keep Trump in check LEGALLY if Trump and/or the GOP go too far. 

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