People

Governor Andrew Cuomo today named Joseph Lhota as his pick to run the nation's largest transit system. Lhota, a former deputy mayor and budget director under mayor Rudy Giuliani, will officially hold the position of MTA CEO after a confirmation vote by the New York State Senate, which is not expected to pose much of a hurdle.

Any moment now, Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce that Joe Lhota, the former budget director and deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani, will be the next chairman of the MTA. There will be a press conference and press releases -- a singular opportunity for Cuomo and Lhota to put forward their vision for the transit agency.

As expected, Governor Cuomo has tapped Patrick Foye to replace Chris Ward as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The manslaughter plea of David McKie, sentenced earlier this month for running down Manhattan pedestrian Karen Schmeer as he fled police following a petty theft, points to a trend in vehicular crimes law that is resulting in lighter sentences for drivers who kill.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign complete streets legislation into law, his office announced in a press release today. Once signed, the law will require all major transportation projects in the state to consider all users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

If not for Albany's theft of $260 million in dedicated transit tax revenues over the past two years, the sweeping service cuts enacted by the MTA in 2010 might have been avoided. Transit riders can't afford a repeat. With the MTA on track to take on even more debt, squeezing its operating budget for years to come, the transit system needs to retain all the funding that's supposed to go toward transit.

At a press conference today, Governor Cuomo touted a new plan to introduce a "rational" pricing mechanism to help the state provide critical resources to New York residents. He was talking, of course, about SUNY tuition, which will be structured to rise five percent a year for the next five years.

Hugh Carey, governor of New York from 1975 to 1982, died yesterday at the age of 92. Even in an office held by the likes of Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller and Mario Cuomo, Carey was a giant; Mayor Ed Koch, who served at the same time as Carey, called him the greatest governor of the modern era.

With about 70 days to go until Jay Walder puts in his last day as MTA CEO, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he has assembled a search committee to help pinpoint the right candidate to take over the nation's largest transit agency.