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Update: MTA Admits Byford Resigned But He's Back On Board Now
By
Christopher Robbins
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 18, 2019
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Stephen Nessen/Gothamist
By
Christopher Robbins
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 18, 2019
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New York City Transit Chief Andy Byford seemed particularly cheerful at an event touting the success of the 14th Street busway on Thursday afternoon. Perhaps now we know why: Byford apparently resigned from his MTA post last week, citing interference from Governor Andrew Cuomo as his chief reason for leaving.
Politico's Dana Rubinstein broke the story. From her report:
The reasons Byford elucidated for resigning were basically twofold, according to one source: He’s tired of having to help organize gubernatorial-driven conferences about signaling and technology, which distract him from his job of improving subway and bus service, and he’s disinclined to preside over possible service cuts or layoffs.
Byford spent this week reconsidering his resignation, Politico reported. Sources familiar with the matter confirmed Politico's reporting with Gothamist/WNYC. The Daily News also cites sources confirming the resignation.
Politico's story ran at 12:22 p.m. At 3:24 p.m., MTA spokesperson Abbey Collins confirmed that Byford did submit a letter of resignation, but that “the letter has been rescinded.” The MTA would not respond to questions about when Byford rescinded his letter of resignation.
The MTA also provided this statement, which they say is from Byford himself:
"I'm not going anywhere and I remain laser focused on improving day-to-day service for millions of New Yorkers and delivering a transformed transit network. The historic $51 billion capital plan provides a golden opportunity to further transform the subway and bus network - with unprecedented investments in accessibility - and my team and I are totally focused on achieving that. The Governor and I are on exactly the same page about the need to dramatically improve the transit system in New York and we now have the plan and the funding to do that."
"We've heard that Andy has been frustrated in recent months, but he never said to me that he's thinking about leaving," said an MTA source. "It seems plausible that he has a breaking point. He can go anywhere he wants."
When Gothamist/WNYC reported that Byford was close to quitting this past summer over similar reasons, Byford denied it, and claimed he had just signed a lease on a new apartment. At the time, a Cuomo spokesperson called it "conspiracy theories and gossip."
The governor's office has not responded to our requests for comment on Byford's resignation.
As the MTA is facing down a $1 billion deficit and service cuts, Governor Cuomo has forced a reorganization of the authority and insisted that they hire 500 new police officers to address "quality of life" issues, at a cost of roughly $663 million over a 10-year period.
"I talked to Andy Byford, who came to see me five months ago. He was thinking of leaving then, because there was no money to fix the system," former Lieutenant Governor and MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch told Gothamist/WNYC. "I told him to look at the statute that was enacted in 2009, which makes it very clear that fiduciary responsibility of members of the board of the MTA are not to the governor, they're to the purpose of the authority."
Ravitch added, "Cuomo's running this. He's the CEO. He's not supposed to be the CEO. The chairman is supposed to be. I don't think the governor complies with the law." (The actual MTA CEO is Pat Foye, who Cuomo appointed after the previous CEO, Joe Lhota, resigned for conflict of interest reasons. The governor and the MTA did not tell the public the whole truth about Lhota's resignation.)
Veronica Vanterpool, a de Blasio appointee on the MTA Board, credited Byford for "a lot of the new initiatives and progress" the MTA has seen recently.
Vanterpool added, "The governor has made it very clear that it has to be a new day at the MTA. I would hate for that new day to not include Andy Byford."
John Kaehny, the executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany, said the Byford situation is "pretty much what you'd expect from a high-profile, public authority reeling from massive political meddling."
He added, "Dealing with endless political theater is exhausting when you're a career professional actually trying to do your job."
We'll update this story as we learn more.
Tagged
andy byford
MTA
andrew cuomo
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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