Paterson Names New MTA Chief
Jay Walder was tapped today to head the cash-strapped agency
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jay Walder, a former New York and London transit executive, was appointed today by Gov. Paterson to be the new chairman of the MTA.
Good luck, Jay Walder, you're gonna need it.
Governor Paterson nominated Walder, a 48-year-old former Metropolitan Transportation Authority honcho, as the chairman of the cash-strapped agency this afternoon.
Perhaps Walder can use his experience to help bail the MTA out of its economic spiral. The Londoner worked for the MTA in the 1980’s and 1990’s, during another tough financial period for the transit agency and is used to battling for funds.
"If the city digs in its heels on this one, we're going to have to make serious cuts," Jay Walder, acting executive director and chief financial officer of the M.T.A, told The New York Times in 1993. "I don't think anybody wants that."
From 2000 to 2006, Walder was the finance director for Transport for London and he helped draft the city’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, according to the Daily News.
W alder currently works as a consultant for McKinsey and Company, and was the author of a report that called for the end of the swipe MetroCard, according to the New York Post. While in London, Walder introduced the Oyster smart card, which works like an E-ZPass and deducts money directly from a person’s individual account.
Walder’s appointment still has to be approved by the state Senate, and the earliest that could happen is Wednesday. If approved by the Senate, Jay Walder would replace Elliot Sander who resigned back in May.
