Leader no longer leads New York’s subways

Joe Leader, a 29-year veteran of MTA New York City Transit, resigned his post as Senior Vice President Subways on Nov. 18, 2015. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer-Service Delivery Wynton Habersham (below, left) will fill Leader’s position in an acting capacity. Leader had been SVP Subways for slightly more than two years.

An NYCT employee publication said Leader’s resignation was based on the desire to spend more time with his family.

Leader joined NYC Transit in 1986 as a Management Intern in the Division of Track. Over the past 29 years he rose steadily through the managerial ranks to Chief Track Officer, Chief of Track and Infrastructure, and Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer for Maintenance-of-Way. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing Track, Infrastructure, Elevator & Escalator, Electrical, Engineering and Electronics Maintenance. He also served five years in the Office of System Safety as a Superintendent of Track Safety and as Director of Investigation.

Leader was praised by his NYCT colleagues for his “nearly 30-year career of challenges and accomplishments that stretched from walking track to successfully guiding the department in the wake of the most destructive weather event in the city’s history (Superstorm Sandy). A hands-on manager, he was as likely to be found walking through subway tunnels during an overnight FASTRACK event as he was to be seated in his conference room generating ideas on how to address the agency’s efforts to serve an increased level of subway ridership.”

Leader was appointed to the SVP position in October 2013. “Since then, he has guided the 27,000-member department through the post-Sandy period—time when subway ridership demands had to be balanced against the need to rebuild large portions of a system devastated by hundreds of millions of gallons of salt water,” the employee publication noted. “This was also a time of rising demand for subway services, with an average weekday ridership of 5.6 million and several days when more than six million customers rode the subway.

“Instrumental in getting FASTRACK off the ground, Joe was deeply involved in one of NYC Transit’s most innovative and successful maintenance programs. The suspension of service overnight for four weeknights in a row allows a significant increase in efficiency. He was also deeply involved in ensuring the safety of subway customers and employees. Recently, he led the drive to improve the wait assessment along three subway lines. Focusing on station dwell times and a reduction in mechanical issues, his goal was to move service more quickly, thereby increasing capacity and reducing customer complaints. That effort has already begun to bear fruit.”

“New York City Transit has been a family to me—one that I have dedicated most of my life to rebuilding, maintaining, protecting and trying to make a difference,” said Leader. “Despite its age, this remains the world’s greatest subway system. I have been extremely lucky to work here and see the transformation this agency has taken—graffiti, no money, station rehabilitation, track reaching a state of good repair, a revitalized car fleet. I have been blessed to work with some of the most talented people in the industry.”