All not a-board! MTA big AWOL
ONE OF Gov. Cuomo’s men at the MTA is MIA.
Larry Schwartz, a former top aide to Cuomo who was appointed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board in June 2015, has been absent from dozens of hearings and meetings, a Daily News review of official minutes for shows.
Schwartz, 59, missed all but two hearings of the board’s most important committees since the start of his term. He also has a spotty attendance record for full board sessions.
The people who take these unpaid positions keep a check on the performance of the agency’s mass transit network, examine finances, approve fare hikes, award contracts and monitor progress of megaprojects.
“I think it brings a lot of value,” MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast said Friday, when asked about the role of board hearings. “We go through a series of operational committee meetings and finance meetings . . . The board members strongly believe that they need to have that ability.”
An MTA spokeswoman said that all members get information ahead of meetings and that staff is available to get them up to speed when they can’t attend.
Schwartz, who now works at an airport management firm, has largely been absent from those committee meetings — out of 84 hearings for the top six committees, he attended two of them from July 2015 to October 2016. Both were meetings of the finance committee, which he now chairs.
He missed six of 14 full board meetings held during his tenure.
Schwartz strongly defended his work on the board, citing his years of experience in government and his position as secretary to two governors. He said those roles separate him from most of his board colleagues.
“I think I know how the MTA works,” he said. “I think I know how state government works.”
Schwartz said his absenteeism since his appointment was due to helping his daughter choose a college and his job, which required traveling.
He said that he reads the committee materials and is in contact with top MTA brass.
“My reputation is, no one works harder than Larry Schwartz and no one is more conscientious than Larry Schwartz,” he said.