LIRR president Patrick Nowakowski has joined the 65-member board of...

LIRR president Patrick Nowakowski has joined the 65-member board of the Long Island Association. On May 12, 2014, he rode an elevator to start his job at LIRR headquarters in Jamaica Station. Credit: Uli Seit

The head of the Long Island Rail Road has joined the board of directors of the region's largest business group.

Patrick Nowakowski, the railroad's president, will serve on the 65-member board of the Long Island Association. He succeeds Helena Williams, who was fired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in April after she led the LIRR for seven years.

Williams' concerns over the Metro-North railroad gaining access to Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station and the LIRR potentially losing track space there reportedly angered her superiors. She remains a paid consultant for the LIRR.

LIA board members are not paid for their service.

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