She's Got a Ticket to Ride (Can She Still Care?)
There are quite a few targets for the wrath of mass transit users tonight, after passage of a measure to raise subway and bus fares to $2.50. There’s the MTA, the General Assembly in general, outer borough state senators in particular, Governor Paterson, Sheldon Silver… Paul McCartney.
Yes, THAT Paul McCartney. In one of those “only in New York” scenarios, the ex-Beatle has actually had his name thrust into the debate over the MTA fare hike. If you keep up with local gossip columns, you have an inkling why that is. Sir Paul (and I won’t refer to him that way again—rock stars should NOT accept knighthoods, in at least a nod toward their long ago rebelliousness) is dating, very seriously by most accounts, a woman named Nancy Shevell. She’s a wealthy, old money, newly-divorced 49-year-old New Yorker… who just happens to serve on the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
The murmurings over her dual roles as Paulie’s squeeze and an MTA official began a couple of days ago. She missed Monday’s board meeting, when the agency’s doomsday budget including the fare increase was readied for a vote, because she was with McCartney at a gala film opening. In London. However she DID return to New York in time to vote in favor of the fare increase this morning. The whole thing has ticked off City Councilman John Liu:
I can see where the Councilman Liu is coming from; if you serve on a board making decisions that affect the lives and well-being of millions of people, you should show up for the big meetings. At the same time, we ARE talking about Paul McCartney here, but still. It’s the other criticism concerning Ms. Shevell’s public service that might resonate a bit more. Namely, that a woman who was born to wealth, married to wealth, and is apparently ready to get married again to one of the wealthiest and most famous entertainers in history…… well, that she can’t exactly relate to the plight of the typical mass transit user. From today’s Daily News:
I’m sure the phrase “never rode the subway in her life” is being tossed about, although I have no idea if that statement is true. I’m betting she doesn’t ride it very often. But should that make her ineligible to serve on the MTA board? The boards of countless charities in this city are filled with wealthy individuals who believe it’s their way to give back to others not as fortunate.
It may be a problem of timing for Ms. Shevell. The super-rich—many of them—are playing the role of the villains during our difficult economic times. Dating a celebrity billionaire while casting a vote to have lower income folks pay more for their bus ride is a tricky juxtaposition right now. Yes, life has handed Nancy Shevell a very nice ticket to ride. But it’s not the time to have those same folks thinking that she don’t care.
Comments: 14
Jim,
Are you running out of stuff to write about? And about "Sir Paul". He was knighted by Queen Liz for his music. I'm sure if John Lennon were alive, he would have been knighted too.
Now if the rich and famous don't sit right with you, there's nothing I can say about it, except that you might possibly be jealous of their substantial monies.
SIR Paul would probably hook up with a wealthy woman now, because of that last fiasco of a marriage he was in.
How would you feel if the whole MTA was rich and famous?
Please put more interesting blogs on your site.
Thank you.
Well put, Jim. She may be as out of touch with our reality as those auto industry tycoons who, silk hats in hand, came to Congress begging for our money after Lear jetting into Washington. Regarding the MTA, this current crisis should be the last straw: the agency as it is presently constituted should be abolished and replaced with one committed to complete openness in its proceedings and consisting of full-time members who better represent the average mass-transit-riding New Yorker in the 11-county area.
People born with a silver spoon in their mouth, just don't understand the "regular guy on the corner waiting for the bus". Since Nancy came back to vote for the increases, she probably doesn't give a damn about what this will cause the average joe. Why should she care, she probably never rides the bus, or the train and has a "car" waiting for her. I wish these people would give more thought to what they are doing to all those who are stuck with these horrendous fare hikes. I'm surprised McCartney didn't give her more insight into this, because, he was raised in Liverpool, and was not RICH as a child.
By the way, McCartney doesn't have the best taste in women. He certainly knows how to pick them.
This is the worst increase at the worst time!103"whos gonna pay a hundred and 3 dollars a month for a monthly metrocard!People's going to leave new york if this fare hike increases!trust me!
She's knowledgeable about transportation - that's why she's on the board.
Wow, just watched the morning news and I didn't know that smelly sneakers was newsworthy. Come on now. Who decides that this stuff gets on the air?
If you ask me AIG is more of a problem right now than the MTA. You know you always have to pay the piper, and the tolls will go up. AIG just threw everyone in the toilet. It was a bad mistake to give them free reign with taxpayers money. And for that matter, when we bailed out all these companies, there should have been restrictions on where OUR MONEY WAS GOING!
Regarding Cali's remark, is Shevell knowledgeable in the general public?
You suck
Paul Mccartney has more class in a pimple on ass than you . If you can't respect him, find something else to bitch about - who are you to judge him anyway, your a nobody.
Jim
I see that writing your boring blog has not let everyone know yet that all this station's and all the others show how you people get paid for what ?
Personally speaking, in this instance, I don't know how much it matters who Paul McCartney is dating. In fact, I would find it odd that Paul would be advising his girlfriend on how she should do her job. And I doubt Paul McCartney would be taking advice from her as to what direction he should next take his music. But what I do find atrocious in this day and age regarding out of control transit fares and the general cost of living in New York City is the many super-wealthy people that have been put in positions of authority, where their obviously biased decision making skills will determine how the rest of us should live. This is a major quality of life issue here, and only a person who understands our plight should be making these decisions for us. We have a billionaire mayor in Bloomberg, who could care less about how budgets are balanced, or on who gets a fair deal in this city. And then we have Shevell here on the board at the MTA, a historically mismanaged entity that never seems to get their budgets properly balanced, regardless of how much money is thrown at them, and regardless of how much the public outcry is that they do more with less if we also as passengers have to. No one listens, and this situation really needs to change. It is truly unacceptible. New York City needs a major political shake up! If New Yorkers are unhappy with our mayor (a man who has by-passed normal legal channels in getting his name on the ballot in this next election), or with any city entity or elected official, we should show it with our ballots. Only when our politicians fully understand that their bad decisions can cost them their coveted positions will they truly get the message that they are here to serve US! All New Yorkers should register to vote, and we should be vocal in our demands. And then, if we are still not getting what we want from our elected leaders, then perhaps we need to continue to exercise our right to new leadership, until we get it right. Vote for change!
Personally speaking, in this instance, I don't know how much it matters who Paul McCartney is dating. In fact, I would find it odd that Paul would be advising his girlfriend on how she should do her job. And I doubt Paul McCartney would be taking advice from her as to what direction he should next take his music. But what I do find atrocious in this day and age regarding out of control transit fares and the general cost of living in New York City is the many super-wealthy people that have been put in positions of authority, where their obviously biased decision making skills will determine how the rest of us should live. This is a major quality of life issue here, and only a person who understands our plight should be making these decisions for us. We have a billionaire mayor in Bloomberg, who could care less about how budgets are balanced, or on who gets a fair deal in this city. And then we have Shevell here on the board at the MTA, a historically mismanaged entity that never seems to get their budgets properly balanced, regardless of how much money is thrown at them, and regardless of how much the public outcry is that they do more with less if we also as passengers have to. No one listens, and this situation really needs to change. It is truly unacceptible. New York City needs a major political shake up! If New Yorkers are unhappy with our mayor (a man who has by-passed normal legal channels in getting his name on the ballot in this next election), or with any city entity or elected official, we should show it with our ballots. Only when our politicians fully understand that their bad decisions can cost them their coveted positions will they truly get the message that they are here to serve US! All New Yorkers should register to vote, and we should be vocal in our demands. And then, if we are still not getting what we want from our elected leaders, then perhaps we need to continue to exercise our right to new leadership, until we get it right. Vote for change!