Long Island gets three MTA representatives as Marc Herbst, Sammy Chu confirmed
Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors' Association, speaking in 2023 in Smithtown. Credit: Barry Sloan
Long Island now has three votes on the MTA Board, as the State Senate has confirmed a new Suffolk representative and found a new spot for the county's former representative.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to confirm Marc Herbst as the newest member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board. Herbst, the executive director of the Long Island Contractors' Association, was recommended by Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine.
Herbst, 60, replaces energy executive Sammy Chu, who was selected by former County Executive Steve Bellone in 2022. Chu’s term ended last month when Romaine succeeded Bellone, but he was renominated by Gov. Kathy Hochul to fill another vacancy on the 23-member board. Chu was also confirmed Wednesday. They join Nassau representative David Mack.
That means that beginning with Monday’s monthly committee meetings, Long Island will have three votes on the MTA Board. As recently as June 2022, it had none, with both the Nassau and Suffolk seats vacant.
Gerard Bringmann, who represents LIRR commuters, and Vincent Tessitore Jr., who represents LIRR workers, have nonvoting seats on the MTA Board.
Long Island Rail Road acting president Robert Free called both Herbst, of West Islip, and Chu, of Lindenhurst, “true advocates for Long Island.”
“Sammy has been on the board, so he knows how it works,” Free, of Port Jefferson Station, said in an interview at a contractors' association breakfast event in Smithtown, at which he was the keynote speaker. “And Marc is well known as someone who truly cares about Long Island. So I think it will be a good partnership.”
Sammy Chu, speaking in 2016, was reappointed to the MTA board. Credit: Heather Walsh
Among the first major votes Herbst will cast will be on a final plan for the MTA’s forthcoming congestion pricing program. Following public hearings held earlier this month, that vote could come as early as Wednesday.
The MTA is considering a plan that would charge most vehicles $15 for driving below 60th Street during peak periods. In addition to toll amounts, the board must decide on potential exemptions and discounts.
Asked about the upcoming vote, Herbst signaled that he felt obliged to vote in favor of the plan, which is expected to generate $1 billion in annual revenue for MTA infrastructure investments.
“If you say ‘no,’ you put a tremendous hole in the budget, the capital program,” Herbst said in an interview Friday. “Everything has been done. The due diligence has taken place. And, for me to turn around and vote against that, I don’t think would be appropriate.”
Chu has voiced his support for congestion pricing, which he has said will improve Long Islanders’ commutes into and out of Manhattan. Mack has spoken against the plan, and encouraged the MTA to find other ways to drum up revenue.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
