Gov. Cuomo’s appointee to head the MTA made a surprise visit to its board meeting yesterday — and was confronted with an only-in-New-York spectacle that likely made him wonder just what the heck he’d signed up for.
Joseph Lhota came face-to-face with unhappy Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees, ready-to-rumble labor leaders, and even a ranting rider who had to be escorted out of the meeting.
“I’m just here to observe,” Lhota said before the meeting began.
There was plenty to see.
During public comments, one man refused to end his tirade on computers for board meetings.
After accusing the board of being “computer illiterate,” Murray Bodin was led out by security.
“Is Nurse Ratched in the room?” Bodin said, referring to the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” tyrant.
Lhota — who is leaving a well-paid gig as a Madison Square Garden exec to head the transit agency — soaked it all in, an amused expression on his face.
The rest of the MTA board — familiar with Bodin from his regular rants — looked bored.
At one point, Lhota turned to another MTA official, who shrugged and shook his head.
Lhota listened closely as about half a dozen MTA employees who had been assaulted on the job pleaded for better security.
“We are facing a lot of hostility because of your fare hikes and cutbacks,” said one man.
Assaults on bus drivers have gone up 20 percent, according to MTA figures.
Kevin Harrington, a vice president of the Transport Workers Union, blasted the MTA, saying it used loopholes to avoid paying benefits to employees injured on the job.
“If you don’t want to pay us when we’re injured, then protect us,” he said.
Afterwards, Harrington said it’s only right that Lhota, who is awaiting confirmation, spent his first board meeting hearing the issues.
“Now he knows what his employees are going through every day,” said Harrington.
New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast told reporters after the meeting that the agency would examine the cases of the bus and subway workers to address their complaints.
Lhota — a former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani — is expected to take office by next month.