New York City Transit appoints Habersham head of subways

Wynton Habersham
Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) has named Wynton Habersham senior vice president of subways.

A 33-year veteran of NYCT, he previously held the position on an interim basis following the retirement of Joseph Leader in December 2015, agency officials said in a press release.

Before that, Habersham served as VP and chief officer for service delivery. His background at NYCT also includes a stint as VP of the maintenance of way division, which experienced a decline in fires and employee accidents during his tenure, MTA officials said.

Habersham started his career at the agency in the signals division.

"Wynton knows this system inside and out, and his expertise and guidance helped get us through a major snowstorm in January 2016, when we shut down outdoor portions of the system for a snowstorm for the first time," said NYCT President Veronique Hakim. "He effectively managed the partial shutdown and the quick resumption of service, which helped protect our fleet and equipment, but most important, our employees and customers."

Habersham's appointment comes as NYCT prepares for the opening of the Second Avenue Subway in December 2016. At the same time, the agency also is carrying out "sweeping changes" to upgrade its century-old subway system, MTA officials said.

The changes include adding hundreds of new subway cars, replacing antiquated signal equipment with communication-based train control, and providing new technology-related passenger amenities such as underground cell phone service and Wi-Fi connectivity.