Patrick Joseph Foye (born January 31, 1957) is an American lawyer who served as chairman and CEO of the New York

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

(MTA). Prior to this role, he served as president of the MTA and executive director of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

Life and career

Foye graduated ''cum laude'' from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

and attended

Fordham Law School Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

, where he served as associate editor for the

Fordham Law Review The ''Fordham Law Review'' is a student-run law review, law journal associated with the Fordham University School of Law that covers a wide range of legal scholarship. Overview In 2017, the ''Fordham Law Review'' was the seventh-most cited law ...

. Foye also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Fordham University on May 21, 2022. As a lawyer, he worked with Skadden Arps. He was appointed by Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

to be chairman of New York's

Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...

and was a board member of the

. Foye was deputy county executive for economic development under Nassau County Executive

Ed Mangano Edward P. Mangano (born March 24, 1962) is an American former politician and disbarred attorney from the state of New York. A Republican, he was the Nassau County Executive from January 2010 to December 2017, and a former legislator in Nass ...

. In October 2011, Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

appointed Foye to the post of executive director of the Port Authority. Cuomo ousted Christopher O. Ward who was a

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

appointee. In November 2015, Foye announced he would leave the position in March 2016. In March 2016, Foye announced he would delay his departure from the position until June 2016, as no replacement had yet been named. Foye later decided to remain in his post as executive director. On August 14, 2017, Foye was succeeded by Rick Cotton as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2017, Foye became president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). On April 1, 2019, Foye was appointed chairman and CEO of the MTA by Governor Cuomo with approval from the New York State Senate. In late July 2021, Pat Foye stepped down at the behest of Governor Cuomo to be replaced by

Janno Lieber John Nathan "Janno" Lieber (born September 19, 1961) is the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York. He was appointed acting chair and CEO in July 2021 and confirmed permanently in January 2022. Early life and care ...

. In September 2021, after

stepped down, Foye announced he would not become the CEO of Empire State Development, and allow

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...

to nominate her own choice. Since leaving government, Foye has advocated on behalf of ASTM in support of their proposal for a new 8th Avenue entrance to

Pennsylvania Station (New York City) Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main inter-city rail, intercity railroad station in New York City and the List of busiest railway stations in North America, busiest transportation facili ...

Fort Lee lane closure scandal

Foye played a key role in ending an allegedly politically motivated traffic blockage that caused

gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

for four days in 2013. On Monday, September 9 two of three toll lanes leading to the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey, with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named after George W ...

from Fort Lee local streets were closed during morning

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

. Local officials, emergency services, and the public were not notified of the lane closures, which Fort Lee declared a threat to public safety. The resulting back-ups on local streets finally ended on Friday morning, September 13 when Foye ordered the two lanes reopened immediately. He said that the "hasty and ill-informed decision" to close lanes could have endangered lives and violated federal and state laws.

References

Living people Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people Executives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 1957 births Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people {{US-poli-bio-stub