New York City Transit names Demetrius Crichlow new president amid budget concerns
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The MTA announced Wednesday that Demetrius Crichlow is the newest president of New York City Transit.
The announcement comes amid a new report from the state comptroller's office that found the MTA will likely be short at least $176 million next year.
Crichlow, a 27-year MTA veteran, has been serving as interim president since May when Richard Davey left for a job in Massachusetts.
He is the tenth president of NYC Transit in the past 15 years.
"Unfortunately, when you have that much churn within a short period of time, you can lose a lot of steam in-between," Crichlow said. "So I'm really happy to be able to provide the stability that the organization needs, moving forward."
Crichlow takes over the city's network of subways and buses at critical time. Since the pandemic, the transit system has lost roughly one million daily riders. Fare evasion is rampant and congestion pricing remains on hold.
Tolls on vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street were intended to raise a billion dollars a year for the MTA's capital program.
Gov. Kathy Hochul put the plan on ice earlier this year. On Wednesday she insisted to reporters that congestion pricing is not dead.
"First of all, this is a pause," she said. "Number two: $15 to institute congestion pricing was too high at a time when everyday New Yorkers are struggling with higher costs of everything, particularly their groceries. We cannot be tone deaf to the impact that these policies have on individuals."
The governor is considering reviving congestion pricing -- but at a lower rate, perhaps $9.
Danny Pearlstein of the Riders Alliance says he'll believe it when he sees it.
"Riders can't trust our governor right now, right. We thought we could and she betrayed us," Pearlstein said. "Governor Hochul knocked our subway and bus network off the soundest fiscal footing it had been on for a generation. And as a result, you know, we're not just facing an indefinite delay of the accessible stations and reliable trains we deserve. We're also facing steep fare hikes and deep service cuts that could set the city way back."
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