In case you missed it, two big things in MTA land went down this week – (or should I say up?) fare increases are totally happening in March, and Chairman and CEO of the MTA, Joe Lhota, will be resigning. We’ve certainly had a seemingly endless revolving door in terms of MTA chiefs. Lhota has been at the helm of the MTA for just about a year, so I guess he didn’t really set any records for longest time served.
People have been debating who should get the nomination to replace Lhota, and if you ask me, it should totally go to Sadie the subway cat! A few weeks ago I updated you on Sadie, who formerly worked at the New York Transit Museum, but has since retired. I had a chance to talk to the wonderful museum employee who has adopted Sadie, and it seems that she is certainly enjoying retired life…
 
 
 
 
The subway kitty is now an apartment kitty, and with a nice view!
I bet we could convince Miss Sadie to take the post as chief of the MTA, though. Think about it, we’d just have to pay for her cat food, litter and vet care, and that can’t be more than $1,000 a year, right? That is a bargain compared to the $350,000 that Jay Walder got paid in 2010 as MTA chief. And it wouldn’t be the first time a feline was in an executive position at a transportation company – just ask Japanese cat Tama, who worked herself up from the position of Stationmaster, to Super Stationmaster, and now Chief Operating Officer at the Wakayama Electric Railway. Apparently putting animals in executive positions at railroad companies seems to be a perfectly acceptable business practice in Japan. So why not hire a cat and get ridership up?
In other news, when it comes to the cuteness factor, Sadie beats Joe Lhota hands down. Jay Walder, too.
Sorry, Joe Lhota.
In all seriousness, it will be interesting to see who will be replacing Lhota. And a little bit of a shame, as I thought he seemed pretty competent. (And yes, I admit, I always thought he was pretty cool for actually starting and maintaining a twitter account.) The likelihood of a cat getting the position is probably less than the world ending tonight, so we certainly wish Sadie the best, and to keep enjoying her retirement. But on the off chance that she does get the job, I know who Sadie can hire as her deputy!
The trains aren’t running? GOOD!
According to my sources inside the Transit Museum, Sadie’s retirement was not exactly “voluntaryâ€, but because she bit a child who was teasing her. If so, she would not be suitable as a replacement for Lhota.
There’ve been rumblings for the past two years that Miss Sadie was to be retired, from being utterly traumatized by a gigantic subway rat, to not playing nice with others. Nonetheless, everyone has a few skeletons in their closet, I don’t think it precludes her for the position ;)
Don’t forget Chessie, who I believe ran the Chesapeake Railroad for a while.
http://www.american-rails.com/chessie-system.html
I always thought Chessie was just a mascot, not an actual employee of the company :)
Figure on the current Metro North president to be high on the list
to become Chairman of the MTA.