Big Mack Attack! Nassau County’s MTA Board Member Quits After Rejection By State Senate

ALBANY — Nassau County’s controversial MTA board member was forced to withdraw himself from reappointment on Thursday after members of the state Senate made it clear they’d had enough with him and his patron, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

David Mack was recommended for reappointment to the 23-member board by the Republican Blakeman, but sources familiar with the Senate said Mack wasn’t rejected for his politics — he was the lone board member to oppose congestion pricing, for example — but for his basic competence and behavior.

Failing to remain awake during critical board meetings may have played a factor:

And when he’s awake, he’s known to make poor choices, like illegally parking his car in a dedicated MTA police spot at the authority’s Manhattan headquarters. And generally abusing his government-issued parking placard. And then flipping off MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber when said parking placard was taken away.

And he’s not even an advocate for the service the MTA provides, bizarrely suggesting once that public transit was an inconvenience — an “inconvenience” on which a vast workforce in his county relies.

“I’m not surprised” he withdrew, said Assembly Member Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau County), chair of the Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican and Asian Caucus, citing Mack’s track record.

The state Senate adjourned for the year on Thursday night, so Blakeman will need to wait until January at the very earliest to pick a replacement for the 84-year-old real estate tycoon and defiant driver.

One vote won’t sway the balance of transit power in New York, but it probably wouldn’t have hurt Blakeman to have a surrogate in state government that can push his talking points on certain issues, especially as he continues his long-shot, Republican gubernatorial bid.

Blakeman did not respond to requests for comment.

The MTA Board comprises 10 members nominated by the governor and four by the New York City mayor. The county executives of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Putnam counties each nominate a member, although representatives who are not from Westchester or Long Island have to share a vote. There are also six rotating non-voting members that represent labor unions and the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee.

As Blakeman’s picks went down in flames, the appointees of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — Melanie Hartzog and Janette Sadik-Khan — were confirmed by the state Senate, as were Rockland County Executive Ed Day’s pick, Matthew Rand, and Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus’ pick, James O’Donnell.