Current Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced that Schwartz, a Long Island native who also served as Deputy County Executive in Westchester and Suffolk counties, officially resigned from the transit board on Dec. 31 after announcing his intention to depart in October.
Schwartz was nominated by Cuomo and joined the board in 2015. His term was scheduled to expire in 2023. He was his most senior advisor during Cuomo’s first term in 2011 and also served as the former governor’s “vaccine czar” during the pandemic as the state began rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations.
He is currently the chief strategy officer at OTG, an airport concessions company.
Schwartz’s profile on the MTA’s website was reportedly scrubbed clean as of Tuesday, Jan. 25. He is the latest casualty of Hochul’s administration dismissing confidantes of the former governor.
“Larry Schwartz has resigned from the MTA Board, and the Governor is grateful for his public service,” Hochul’s press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays said in a statement Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Hohcul announced her nomination of New York Building Congress chairperson Elizabeth Velez to fill one of the two vacancies left on the MTA board by Schwartz and former state Department of Financial Services chief Linda Lacewell, who stepped down in August.
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