NYC mayor recommends Meera Joshi to serve on MTA board

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has recommended Indian American Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi to serve on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board to help provide New Yorkers with a safe, reliable, and accessible public transportation system.

Besides Deputy Mayor for operations Joshi, Adams also recommended New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick to serve on the MTA board. Both nominations are subject to New York State Senate confirmation.

Currently overseeing the Adams administration’s transportation and infrastructure portfolio, Joshi spearheads the administration’s street safety work — which helped make 2023 New York City’s second-safest year for pedestrians since Vision Zero began in 2014 — while also creating vibrant public spaces in all five boroughs and preparing the city for congestion pricing.

READ: Meera Joshi set to become New York City deputy mayor (December 29, 2021)

“Deputy Mayor Joshi and Director Garodnick are the perfect people to help secure the MTA’s future and deliver a world-class, safe, reliable, and accessible transportation system to all New Yorkers,” Adams stated.

“New York City’s transit system is our backbone, and once confirmed to the MTA Board, Deputy Mayor Joshi and Director Garodnick will help ensure our backbone is stronger than ever. We want to thank Governor Hochul and our partners at the MTA for their collaboration on moving our city forward.”

“Perhaps nothing impacts the smooth operations of New York more than its public transit system; it is the backbone around which our economy functions and our identity as New Yorkers is built. Supporting the MTA’s fiscal and operational wellbeing through this moment of transition would be a great honor and privilege,” said Joshi.

“From delivering needed upgrades to effectively operationalizing congestion pricing, I am committed to faithfully serving the people of New York as a member of the MTA’s Board of Directors. I am deeply grateful for Mayor Adams’ nomination and look forward to the State Senate’s review.”

Over his two years in office, Mayor Adams has prioritized making the city’s transit system safe, reliable, and accessible.

READ: Meera Joshi: Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, DOT (July 24, 2021)

As deputy mayor for operations, Joshi oversees New York City’s infrastructure, public realm, and climate portfolio. Every day, her teams work to expand the city’s open, green, and aquatic space; reduce New York City’s building and transportation emissions, as well as its waste stream; and protect New Yorkers from the ever-mounting threats from excessive heat and rainwater, according to her official profile.

Prior to joining the Adams administration, Joshi was President Joe Biden’s nominee for administrator of the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency responsible for regulation of interstate trucking.

In this role, she led initiatives aimed at improving roadway safety, the working conditions of truck drivers, and accountability mechanisms to integrate automation.

Joshi was previously chair and CEO of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission — the nation’s largest for-hire transportation regulator — where she spearheaded Vision Zero campaigns, keeping high-risk drivers and unsafe vehicles off the road.

READ: Head of New York City Taxi Commission Meera Joshi to step down (January 8, 2019)

She led landmark policy changes, including establishing robust open transportation data standards, enacting the nation’s first for-hire driver pay protection program, and providing broad and on-demand access to for-hire transportation for passengers who use wheelchairs.

In addition to her roles in transportation oversight, Joshi was previously the inspector general for the New York City Department of Correction, responsible for investigations of corruption and criminality at all levels of New York City’s jail operations between 2002 and 2008; and the first deputy executive director of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, leading investigations of civilian allegations of police misconduct.

READ: Meera Joshi’s campaign to give benefits to out of work cabbies continues as NYC’s TLC Commissioner (April 21, 2014)

Joshi holds both a BA and JD from the University of Pennsylvania.