Top Transportation Officials Headline Stroock's Future of Mass Transportation in NYC Forum

NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New York City's leading transportation officials spoke at a forum today on the Future of Mass Transportation in NYC, hosted by Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in the law firm's downtown offices.

Speakers included Patrick J. Foye, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Thomas F. Prendergast, President MTA New York City Transit; James Vacca, New York City Council – Transportation Chair; and Gene Russianoff, Attorney and Spokesman for the Straphangers Campaign, a NYC-based public transport advocacy group.

Robert Abrams, former New York State Attorney General and Chair of Stroock's Government Relations Practice, and Charles G. Moerdler, Chair of Stroock's Litigation practice group and MTA board member, moderated a conversation in which the panelists shared their vision for the direction of mass transit in the metropolitan area. Jerry H. Goldfeder, Stroock Special Counsel and Election Law attorney, introduced the program.

The panel discussed a wide range of issues, including the resources that will be necessary to accommodate an anticipated additional 5 million subway and 2.5 million bus riders in the coming years; access to public transportation for commuters living in the far reaches of the boroughs; keeping fares affordable – or even free, in an ideal world - while maintaining and improving maintenance and upkeep; the possibilities of a mass transit link from mid-town to La Guardia Airport; the potential for a terrorist attack on our subway system and the $6 billion of improved security measures undertaken; as well as whether eating in the subway should be banned.

"This was a rare opportunity to bring together the city's top transportation experts to hear their perspectives on where and how the city is moving forward in advancing mass transit," said Abrams.  "Their reflections concerning the challenges and opportunities of the most complex subway, bus, bridge and tunnel system in the world provided extraordinary insight for all of us who travel into and within the city." 

The event was the seventh in a series hosted by Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP during the last year. Previous participants included New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman; New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli; high-level prosecutors in a forum on public corruption; Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi; New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; former New York City Comptroller and Democratic candidate for Mayor William Thompson; and most recently, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. 

Today's event was sponsored by Stroock's Government Relations group, which is comprised of former prosecutors, judges, and government agency officials.  The practice is led by Mr. Abrams, who also served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General, Executive Chair of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Transition Committee and Honorary Co-Chair of Attorney General Schneiderman's Transition Committee. 

SOURCE Stroock & Stroock & Lavan