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Whoa, is this an early holiday present to Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer? Or is this a fake-out to appease him for now? MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow told a state Assembly oversight hearing that he'll leave office "sometime in the second quarter": "There are things that I want to get finished. When they are finished I would like to resign." Those things being getting funding for the Second Avenue Subway and other capital projects secured.
Kalikow was appointed to another six-year term in June, but Spitzer has been vocal about wanting Kalikow out. Kalikow, though, had previously said he will stay on as long as it will take to complete his projects, but this has been the first time he's attached an actual date. If Kalikow can commit to leaving, Spitzer might be able to avoid an ugly fight with Kalikow (though Spitzer may not mind having a public battle to show he really wants to clean house).
However, even a few more months of Kalikow in 2007 doesn't sit well with some. Both the Transit Workers Union and the Straphangers' Campaign tell amNew York Kalikow needs to leave sooner. The Straphangers' Gene Russianoff said, "I think he should resign. To hold the governor accountable you need the governor to fill the top posts."
Photograph of Peter Kalikow by Jori Klein
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gotta make sure atlantic yards gets crammed through and to try to make sure lee sander doesn't get to take all the credit for the 2nd ave subway.
How about a subway to Red Hook or Staten Island instead?? 2nd ave subway is just a dumb idea.
in other news, shake shack is closing.
Looking around on the MTA site, it seems like only two people have any kind of transportation background (former bus driver and a freight company exec), and only one person actually confessed to being a regular user of mass transit.
There are 2 empty spots on the board and 3 holdovers from expired terms, apparently because no one can be found to take the positions.
http://www.mta.info/mta/leadership/index.html has all the sad details.
So the real question is, what qualifications does one need to have in order to be MTA chairman, or have a spot on the board? Deep pockets, good looks, kneepads, or?
Kalikow is going to suck penis all the way to a white house cabinet position.
I'll throw a party when he is gone. He and Pataki combined resulted in the increases in the fare. Pataki's philosophy was that the public should pay for its own transportation, therefore, he took away public funds. But, when it came to education, all of the money went from NYC and went to Upstate schools. Anyone else see a pattern?