“First, I want to thank Joe Lhota for deciding to return to the public sector and dedicating his considerable talents towards the daunting challenge of running the MTA. The MTA has serious problems that have to be confronted head-on, most notably the absence of a dedicated, reliable mass transit funding stream to rebuild the system and give New York City the 21^st century transit system we deserve. Joe has the talent, experience, and skill to take on those challenges and build on the improvements Jay Walder started. The Governor made the right choice in appointing Joe and I look forward to working with him.”