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MTA chairman fires Long Island Rail Road president

By Philip Newman

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has fired Helena Williams, president of the Long Island Rail Road, as the railroad negotiates with the possibility of a strike this summer.

Williams, the LIRR’s first woman president and who served in the job nearly seven years, said her dismissal was a surprise.

MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast advised Williams of the move in his office immediately following the monthly MTA Board meeting Wednesday.

Shortly afterward, the MTA announced that Patrick Nowakowski would replace Williams as LIRR president.

For the past five years, Nowakowski has served as executive director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which is building a 23-mile rail line to connect with the Washington, D.C. Metro system. He also served more than 27 years with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, including seven years as assistant general manager of operations.

MTA sources said Prendergast explained that he believed the president of the LIRR should have a background in mechanics. Williams, the LIRR’s first woman president, is an attorney.

Prendergast said Williams had done well, but that he needed leaders with technical backgrounds.

“I want to thank Helena for her long and successful service to the MTA, to Long Island and to everyone in the New York metropolitan region,” Prendergast said.

Discussions on possibility of a work stoppage and preparations for such an eventuality took up more than an hour at the MTA Board meeting.

The LIRR workers have been working without a contract for three years.

Much of the discussion centered on Prendergast’s plan to provide privately owned buses in case of a strike.