Comments on: Under Sander, How “Bloated and Wasteful” Is the MTA?

By: NotReally

NotReally — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:05:42 +0000

But what money have those “cost-cutting” measures actually saved? MTA operating expenses are still rising, despite all that alleged parsimony. Lee’s stock in trade is shuffling around boxes on an org chart and pretending it does some good. It’s what he has done in every operational job he has had, as anyone who knows him from his NYCDOT, NYSDOT, or earlier MTA gigs could tell you.

By many accounts from people within the MTA I’ve spoken to, nothing has changed with his methods, and he has not done anything to improve the authority’s financial health. How many of you can say that your transit experience has improved since Lee took over? I certainly can’t.

He took over a large, out of control organization fraught with problems, so there’s a limit to how much blame he should get. However, I think it would be very difficult to find anyone who has actually dealt with Sander who has a positive opinion of him as an administrator/manager. He’s a nice enough guy, knows all the transpo policy buzzwords, and his heart is in the right place. But, he is not competent to run a major operation. Not to say that Shaw is any better (City OMB? OMG!), but Sander’s departure has never been any great loss to any organization he has been a part of.

By: ddartley

ddartley — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:27:09 +0000

Utterly immaterial: on my ride to work this a.m. I saw Sander crossing 55th St. at 6th Ave.

He looked like he had a lot on his mind (seriously).

By: Lee Watkins IV

Lee Watkins IV — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:37:42 +0000

The NYC transit system is not just critical to the regions economy, it’s critical to the nation’s economy, which in turn is critical to the global economy. Where NYC goes, so does the rest of the country. Where the USA goes, so does much of the rest of the world. Economic headlines over the last year have made this abundantly clear by now.

By: Glenn McAnanama

Glenn McAnanama — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:26:22 +0000

BTW – Nice to see AD’s name on Streetsblog again.

By: Glenn McAnanama

Glenn McAnanama — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:25:21 +0000

There is no doubt in my book that specifically buses have been running extraordinarily better the last few years than I remember in my whole life. I have seen much more regular and on-time buses as well as less bus bunching.

Chalk that up as one for experts vs. political cronies (or whatever Kalikow was).

I feel like the MTA needs two leaders – one as the expert that really does the job, and a smooth-talking well connected salesperson to meet with legislators and the media.

By: Rhywun

Rhywun — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:36:42 +0000

Somebody has to play the sacrificial lamb–especially for the ignorant public who place all the blame for this mess on the MTA. And lawmakers aren’t interested in any “facts” and “figures” that make their sacrifice look good, either.