State Senate OKs appointment of 2 Long Islanders to MTA board
Samuel Chu of Lindenhurst has been confirmed as Suffolk County's representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. Credit: Edgewise Energy
The state Senate confirmed two Long Island representatives to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board early Friday, filling two seats that had been vacant for more than a month and restoring Island votes on issues governing the MTA and the LIRR.
The pair were among nine MTA Board members confirmed by the Senate to the 21-member board, including six new appointments. MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said the members represent the agency's "diverse ridership," and that he looks "forward to working with them to make using the MTA’s services more reliable, accessible and affordable for all customers.”
In addition to veteran Nassau County representative David Mack of Great Neck being reappointed to another term, the Senate installed Samuel Chu of Lindenhurst as Suffolk County’s representative on the board, replacing Kevin Law, who stepped down in April.
Chu, 45, owns two Plainview energy companies — Edgewise Energy and Caltech Electric Inc. — and is vice chairman of the Suffolk County Planning Commission. Chu began his public service career working in Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s administration, where he rose to chief of staff.
David Mack has been confirmed to another term as Nassau County's representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. Credit: Patrick McCarthy
Having grown up riding the subways in Brooklyn, later commuting to a job as a union electrician, and immersing himself in recent years on issues of clean energy and sustainability, Chu believes he is well-suited to represent Suffolk in the governing body of the largest public transportation agency in the United States.
“I’m excited to bring that perspective that I don’t necessarily think is on the board now,” said Chu, who mentioned the electrification of the Port Jefferson branch, transit-oriented development opportunities, and the use of battery-operated trains as among the issues in which he is interested.
“I would say I’m not coming in as a complete novice,” Chu said. “But I also have enough experience with organizations to know that, until you’re in it, and you pore through it and immerse yourself in the details, that you can never really get to the solutions.”
Among the more colorful bits of experience Chu brings to the board is as a competitive power lifter for the last 10 years. On Tuesday, he set a world record in his division, deadlifting 568 pounds.
“This is the first day that I feel a little human,” Chu said Friday morning. “It wasn’t great that I had to stay up til 12:30 last night to tune into the Senate,” referring to the Senate's last hours to vote on bills before it adjourned its 2022 session.
Bellone on Friday called Chu an "excellent addition to the MTA Board, as some of the LIRR’s largest projects come to fruition this year" and "a new voice, with a fresh perspective for years to come.”
The LIRR's $11.2 billion East Side Access link to Grand Central, and the $2.6 billion Third Track between Floral Park and Hicksville are both scheduled for completion by December.
Also back on the board is Mack, 80, who served as Nassau’s MTA representative from 1993 to 2009, and again from 2019 until his term expired in April. A real estate executive and philanthropist whose name is emblazoned on Hofstra University’s sports complex and, more recently, a Nassau police training facility, Mack rarely weighs in on transportation issues at MTA Board meetings.
Despite some lawmakers opposing his nomination, Mack, at a confirmation hearing last week, insisted that he remains “an asset to the MTA.” Mack said he wants to address “lawlessness” in the transit system, refurbish deteriorating Long Island Rail Road bridges on Long Island, and bring back lapsed commuters.
Speaking at a meeting of the Long Island Association on Thursday, LIRR interim President Catherine Rinaldi welcomed Chu and Mack as board members, who she said are needed to ask “hard questions” and keep railroad leadership engaged.
“If you don’t have somebody like that in that role, you miss something,” Rinaldi said. “I think having local representation from Nassau, from Suffolk . . . is really important.”
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.
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