MTA Board Member Backs Down on Perks

By MARK GIANNOTTO, Special to the Sun | June 20, 2008

A vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is retreating from his threat to vote against a proposal to eliminate board member perks after an outcry from Governor Paterson and other elected officials.

The MTA board member, David Mack, said Wednesday he would not use any MTA services if he was not given free passes, including E-ZPass tags for tollbooths. Mr. Mack is a vice president and senior partner at the real estate development firm, the Mack Co., whose portfolio contains 20 million square feet of space, according to Forbes.

"I regret that my comments yesterday did not reflect my commitment to the MTA and the work it does to provide the best public transportation system in the United States." Mr. Mack said yesterday in a statement. "I plan to vote next week in support of changing our policies so that free passes for our transportation systems are used only by current board members, who are on official MTA business."

The MTA board is scheduled to vote on the resolution next week.

Mr. Paterson in a statement yesterday denounced MTA board members who are threatening to vote against the resolution, saying they show "an utter contempt for the average New Yorker."

"These board members, while valuable to the MTA, are certainly not above the law," Mr. Paterson said in a statement. "If MTA board members truly want to better understand the system they oversee, they should pay the same tolls and fares as everyone else, and be part of the public transportation system that millions of New Yorkers depend on every day."

New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, said he would sue individual board members if they refuse to give up their freebies.

Council Member David Yassky of Brooklyn said he was "openmouthed in astonishment" at Mr. Mack's comments. "A person who accepts his own agency's incompetence so blithely should not be sitting on the MTA board," Mr. Yassky said.

At a separate press conference yesterday, Mr. Yassky proposed the MTA solve its budget crisis by selling off real estate assets he believes to be worth more than $1 billion.