New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday celebrated the the 90th anniversary of its MTA Bridges and Tunnels unit, which was known as the Triborough Bridge Authority when it was established in 1933 to complete construction of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. An MTA news release noted, “In 1937, the agency’s first full year of operation, the agency recorded 11.2 million crossings, with only the Triborough Bridge under its operation at the time. Last year, the agency reported 327 million crossings – a nearly thirty-fold increase since its founding – and a record in surplus toll revenue of nearly $1.2 billion dollars to support the MTA’s public transit services.” Today’s agency, with seven bridges and two tunnels in operation, now ranks as the largest of its class in the United States.
Last month, MTA Bridges and Tunnels underwent its first leadership change in four years with the retirement of its president, Daniel DeCrescenzo, Jr., who rose from the position of bridge and tunnel police officer over a 33-year MTA career. MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber appointed Catherine Sheridan, PE, to replace DeCrescenzo on an interim basis. She joined MTA in 2019, rising to the position of chief of staff at MTA Construction and Development. Earlier in her career, she held engineering and senior management posts at the New York State Thruway Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation. Sheridan is also a former US Army combat engineer.
Mr. Lieber simultaneously promoted Allison L. C. de Cerreño, PhD, to the position of MTA Bridges and Tunnels Chief Operating Officer. During her two-year tenure as the agency’s deputy COO, she led the Central Business District Tolling Program and supervised the team that designed and implemented OMNY, MTA’s contactless fare payment system. De Cerreño joined MTA from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), where her experience included directing that agency’s tolling operations.