Photo Courtesy of MTA/Patrick Cashin
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota
By Forum Staff
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota on Thursday announced the appointment of Patrick Foye as president and Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim as managing director of the MTA.
According to Lhota, Foye and Hakim will serve in the newly-created Office of the Chairman, which will also include MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber. Foye and Hakim, Lhota said, will be responsible for managing the agency on a day-to-day basis. Foye will lead innovation and modernization initiatives, and Hakim will be responsible for the operations of the agency.
Lhota recently announced a comprehensive plan to immediately stabilize and modernize the subway system. He said Foye and Hakim will be responsible for implementing the plan.
“Pat and Ronnie are veteran transportation professionals who together with Janno form the dynamic team the MTA needs at this moment,” Lhota added. “Pat and Ronnie will assume the day-to-day leadership of the MTA and ensure that our customers are always our first priority. The plan I recently introduced is ambitious, aggressive, and requires dedicated leadership ensuring operational excellence and long-term innovation – which is exactly what the team in the Office of the Chairman will provide.”
Pat Foye has been the executive director of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and President of PATH since November 2011. At the Port Authority, to advance Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s infrastructure plan, Foye led public-private partnerships for the Goethals Bridge and the nation’s largest PPP for Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport. Prior to joining the Port Authority, he served as deputy secretary for Economic Development for Cuomo. Foye grew up in New York City and lives in Nassau County.
Ronnie Hakim has served as interim executive director of the MTA since January 2017. In 2015, Hakim was named president of MTA New York City Transit, returning to the MTA after an earlier 23-year career at the agency. She has also previously served as the executive director of NJ TRANSIT for a year and a half, and nearly four years as executive director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
