Lee Sander seems to be getting high marks from all as he starts his third month on the job.
Elected officials praises his decision to restore service on the No. 7 train for St. Patrick’s Day. Transit advocates applauded the Blue Ribbon panel he appointed to look at cost overruns with expansion projects. The press was grateful that his first press conference was a civilized sit down affair.
But, now that he’s already – no matter how cautiously --- talking about the proposed 2008 fare hike he better plan for the honeymoon to end.
Sander is a private pilot and a bit of an aviation buff – the kind of hobby easy to exploit in a sound bite.
Just as MTA chairman Peter Kalikow has been derided for his Ferrari collection and former NYCT prez Larry Reuter for his golf trips, attacks on Sander for being a pilot seem inevitable.
One can imagine, Councilman John Liu or another transit advocate railing against Sander along the lines of: “Sander seems to spend worrying about his plane in the sky than straphangers down below."
How long until the first attack?
-- Chuck Bennett
