New York is losing a class act at one of its most important (if least-known) agencies: the New York Power Authority.
John Dyson, among Gov. Cuomo’s earliest picks for a top position last year, is stepping down as a NYPA trustee.
Dyson, to be blunt, was much more than a mere trustee. In effect, he ran the joint — the nation’s largest state-run power operation — as de facto chairman, resetting its course after years of mismanagement under ex-boss Richie Kessel.
Kessel had turned NYPA into his personal political tool, steering agency funds to politically favored groups (especially in his Long Island base) — as The Post noted extensively at the time.
Dyson’s mission was to restore order and direction at NYPA, and he did just that. Kessel was soon ousted amid probes into his shenanigans. New management was installed.
Dyson also instituted policies to guard against Kessel-style abuse and re-focused NYPA’s core goals: supplying low-cost, reliable power, improving energy efficiency and promoting job growth in New York.
Actually, this was Dyson’s second stint at NYPA; he served as chairman from 1979 to 1985. He was also Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s economic-development czar and Gov. Hugh Carey’s commerce commissioner (the “I love New York” campaign was launched on his watch).
Now Dyson sees his job at NYPA as done and wants to return to private life.
He’s surely earned that. But New Yorkers should be deeply grateful for his service.
Indeed, Cuomo would do well to make John Dyson the standard for all his picks.