Darryl Irick is acting president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's New York City Transit unit, interim MTA executive director Ronnie Hakim announced.
A nationwide search is under way for a permanent MTA chairman and chief executive to replace Thomas Prendergast, who retired from the agency on Jan. 31. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has named a seven-member screening committee. Hakim was elevated from the New York City Transit position to serve as interim MTA leader.
The MTA is one of the largest municipal issuers with roughly $36 billion in debt.
In his temporary position, Irick, the current New York City Transit senior vice president of buses and president of MTA Bus Co., will oversee the MTA agency that operates subways, buses, and paratransit services. Hakim, New York City president since 2015, is now the interim MTA executive director.
Current MTA vice-chairman Fernando Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president and twice a New York mayoral candidate, will be interim board chairman.
Irick joined the MTA in 1986 as a bus operator at the Kingsbridge Depot in Manhattan, moving to progressively senior positions in operations and planning. His father also was a transit bus operator and maintainer.
