Weinshall Resignation Letter to Staff

It’s not as exciting as former DOT Bike Program Director Andrew Vesselenovitch’s mass e-mailed resignation letter, but here is Commissioner Weinshall’s:

—–Original Message—–
From: DOT Announcements
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 3:24 PM
To: #All DOT Users
Subject: From Commissioner Weinshall
Importance: High

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

As many of you have heard, I resigned my post yesterday to accept a Vice Chancellorship at my alma mater, the City University of New York and I will be leaving the agency in mid-April. As I begin to reflect on the seven years I’ve spent at DOT, I feel I owe you all a heartfelt thank you for your dedication. The Commissioner’s Office often receives the credit for keeping our streets smooth and safe, our ferries on time and our historic bridges up and running, but none of those things would be possible if it weren’t for the men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving their city.

Sincerely,

Iris Weinshall, DOT Commissioner

  • brent

    This can be a real opportunity to strongarm for a DOT commis who takes innitiative, has vision, and generally stands up against the old mantra of making motoring as painless as possible.

  • Not to read too much into this, but there is a thread that I would just like to pull on a little. Weinshall writes that she is proud to receive some credit and gives credit to her staff for:

    keeping our streets smooth and safe, our ferries on time and our historic bridges up and running

    I know New York City is a complex system to keep functioning and she should be proud of this aspect of her legacy of professionalizing the agency to a higher level over the last 7 years. But shouldn’t we aspire to more? Shouldn’t we aspire to having the best, most innovative transportation department that achieves more than maintaining our streets. Shouldn’t we expect that the Transportation Commissioner rises above mere administrative competency and sets forth a vision for a better future of less traffic, less pollution, less noise, more public places, safer streets, more healthier modes of transportation, etc?

    I hope the next Commissioner will take this agency to the next level.

  • P

    Does TA or TSTC have any plans to make a wish list of the qualities they are looking for in a new Director? Or is that just a waste of breath?

  • Maria

    Glenn,

    You nailed it.

    Weinshall never saw her job as more than this.

    “Keep the traffic moving.”

    That’s the really tragic thing about her legacy.

  • Don’t let the door hit you in the ass Iris!

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