Talking to MTA's Joe Lhota

At the end of a long hot summer of subway delays, MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota joined Greater NY partners for breakfast and an informal discussion of the $800 million subway rescue plan, launched July 25. At the heart of the conversation was the theme of revolutionizing the transport experience for New Yorkers today and for residents of the future. “We live in a digital world,” Lhota said, “and the subway system is not even analog. It’s mechanical.”

“We live in a digital world and
the subway system is not
even analog. It’s mechanical.”

Lhota mapped out the goals of the plan and then addressed the experience of New Yorkers on each of the subway lines, offering reasons behind delays with insights into the history of the system. On the work needed to upgrade the system, Lhota said that NYC is one of two subway systems that run 24/7 (the other is Moscow) – meaning the routine repairs and upgrades done in other cities are more challenging in NYC. “Any renovation taking place,” he said, “will require the support of the people it will benefit the most.”

“Any renovation taking place will require the support of the people it will benefit the most.”

Joseph J. Lhota is senior vice president, vice dean and chief of staff at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he advises on policy and management issues. Lhota served as chairman of the MTA, first in 2012, and then from 2017 to 2018. Prior to that, he was deputy mayor of Operations in NYC under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He has held roles as chief of staff to the deputy mayor for Finance and Economic Development, as finance commissioner for NYC and as director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. Lhota graduated from Georgetown University and received an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Greater NY holds quarterly breakfasts for its partners with speakers
from the public, private and nonprofit sectors