Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sending a prominent street fighter to the MTA in his push for fast and free buses.
Janette Sadik-Khan, a former commissioner of the city's Department of Transportation, is Mamdani’s choice to fill one of two vacant seats on the MTA board. Sadik-Khan served in former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration and was a key architect of the city’s bike lane network and current streetscape.
His other pick is Melanie Hartzog, who served as deputy mayor for health and human services during the pandemic under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Board choices don’t usually generate much controversy, but Sadik-Khan was a fierce fighter remembered for clashes with bike lane opponents, bringing Citi Bike to the city, and a pedestrian-friendly redesign of Times Square. Her book published in 2017, “Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution,” described her as a “modern-day Jane Jacobs.”
Sadik-Khan will be one of 17 board members who vote on major construction and labor contracts. She’ll be in a position to draw attention to issues important to the mayor, like fast and free buses.
“As we enter a new transportation era, we need a transportation action plan that matches our ambitions,” Sadik-Khan wrote in a statement sent by the mayor’s office. “I am grateful to Mayor Mamdani for the opportunity to serve on the MTA Board and to be a vote and a voice for all riders looking for affordable transportation and the access that our buses and rail provide to jobs, housing and opportunities.”
Sadik-Khan is currently a principal at Bloomberg Associates, the former mayor’s philanthropic consulting firm.
She led the DOT from 2007 to 2013 and is credited with transforming it from an agency that merely fills potholes and paves roads to one that reimagines streets. She added 400 miles of bike lanes, 60 public plazas and seven rapid bus lanes to the city.
She said mayors around the world have since embraced many of the street redesigns she pioneered in New York City.
She’ll join the other two members of the board representing the city: David Jones, who created the Fair Fares program and was appointed by de Blasio a decade ago, and city planner Dan Garodnick, who was appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams.
“Melanie and Janette have dedicated their careers to delivering results for New Yorkers, and alongside Dan and David, they will help ensure that this city gets fast and free buses, and that riders have strong advocates at the table. I’m grateful for their willingness to serve,” Mamdani wrote in a statement.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber has pushed back on the idea of free buses, saying it could harm the MTA’s finances. He’s argued the city should expand the Fair Fares program, which offers half-price fares to low-income riders.
Good government advocate Rachael Fauss of Reinvent Albany said board members should keep the MTA’s bottom line top of mind.
“Members have a fiduciary duty to the MTA first and foremost; this is a requirement under [New York State] public authorities law. While they will undoubtedly also serve as a voice for the mayor on the board, this comes secondarily to the oath of office they take to put the MTA's financial interests first,” Fauss wrote in an email. “Given the politics of the MTA, the mayor's picks also have the opportunity to serve as a counterbalance to the governor's. The mayor's appointees have been strongest when they work together to raise issues and trigger debate.”
Sadik-Khan and Hartzog must be approved by the state Senate before the end of the current legislative session on Thursday.
