The unelected layer · appointed boards, public meetings
The authorities
Nobody votes for these boards, yet they run the subway, public housing, the airports, and the city’s biggest projects. For an unelected body the accountability line is who appoints it, so that is what this page shows. Their board meetings are public and their materials are published.
State authority
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Subways, buses, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and seven bridges and two tunnels. About 5.5 million rides a day.
Who appoints it: The Governor nominates the majority of the board including the chair; the NYC Mayor recommends four members; suburban county executives recommend the rest. The State Senate confirms all of them.
Janno Lieber Chair and CEO
Board meetings and materialsAnswers to Albany, not City Hall. When the subway frustrates you, the chain runs through the Governor.
City authority
New York City Housing Authority
Public housing for roughly one in fifteen New Yorkers, plus the Section 8 voucher program.
Who appoints it: All seven board members are appointed by the Mayor; by law three must be residents of public housing.
Current leadership official pageBoard meetings and materials
Answers to the Mayor. Since 2019 a federal monitor also oversees it under an agreement with HUD.
Bi-state authority
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports, the seaport, the PATH train, the George Washington Bridge, the bus terminal, and the World Trade Center site.
Who appoints it: Twelve commissioners: six appointed by the Governor of New York, six by the Governor of New Jersey.
Current leadership official pageBoard meetings and materials
Answers to two governors at once, which in practice can mean neither. Created by interstate compact in 1921.
City-contracted nonprofit
New York City Economic Development Corporation
The city's big development projects: waterfronts, industrial parks, ferries, life-science campuses.
Who appoints it: A nonprofit working under contract to the city; the Mayor appoints the majority of the board, with members recommended by borough presidents and the Council Speaker.
Current leadership official pageBoard meetings and materials
Answers to the Mayor through its contract and board. Not subject to some rules that bind city agencies, which is part of why it exists.
Not yet available as public data
Board votes, decisions, and attendance for these authorities is not published as open data today. Each authority publishes meeting minutes as PDF documents; none publishes them as structured data holds it. You can help change that by asking: publish board votes and decisions as open data, the way legislatures publish theirs.
Public records belong to the public. A short, polite request from a resident often does more than one from a company.
Appointment structures are set by law and do not change with officeholders. Named leadership verified 2026-07-09; where a name is not shown, the official page is the source. Board decisions and meeting summaries arrive when the document tier is built; no structured board data exists in any official open-data portal today.