Newsday

                      July 11, 1993, Sunday, CITY EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; IN THE SUBWAYS; Pg. 2

LENGTH: 843 words

HEADLINE: Lost in Transit On Way to Forum

BYLINE: Ellis Henican

KEYWORD: LILYAN AFFINITO; MEETING; SUBWAY; ISSUE; COMMUNITY RELATIONS; 
MTA; METROPOLITIAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY;

 BODY:    Where's Lilyan?

   Here it is, another publirdhearing concerning a topic of importance to 
the subway riders of New York. Should the fare be raised? Should services 
be cut? Should something new be done for people in wheelchairs?

   First-string issues, every one of them. But don't expect to lay eyes 
on MTA board member  Lilyan Affinito.  Whatever the topic of the moment 
might be, if the purpose of the meeting is a hearing from the public - 
you can bet  Affinito won't be in the room.

   Since the beginning of last year, the Metropolitan Transportation 
Authority has conducted 26 formal public hearings, the most important 
chance that riders ever get to make their voices heard.

   And how many of these public hearings has Affinito bothered to show up 
for? Zero, according to the MTA's own official attendance logs.

   Zero for 26.

   It's not like Affinito is some minor figure in a far-off corner of the 
transit bureaucracy. Even though you may not recognize her name, she's 
already had a major impact on your life. She's the chairwoman of the 
MTA's powerful Finance Committee, where her decisions affect the 
financial life of the subway every day.

   She's the woman with her hands on the purse, and this is how carefully 
she chooses to listen to the people she serves.

   To be fair, Affinito isn't the only offender when it comes to turning 
a deaf ear to the public - although she appears to be the most egregious 
one.

   MTA Chairman Peter Stangl, the man who talks eagerly about giving a 
"Fare Deal" to the public, has managed to make five of the 26 public 
hearings. The vice chairman, Dan Scannell, at least turned up eight 
times.

   Even the champion of public-hearing attendance, board member Warren 
Dolny of Rockland County, has shown up only half the time - 13 of 26 
hearings. But

                                                                       
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compared to his colleagues, Dolny is a regular glutton for the public's 
views.

   Board member Barry Feinstein has appeared five times. So have Deputy 
Mayor Barbara Fife and city Transportation Commissioner Lucius Riccio.

   In all, there are 17 members of the MTA Board. At the average public 
hearing, fewer than three turn up.

   "It's really gotten abysmal," said Gene Russianoff, counsel to the 
Straphangers Campaign.

   At an April 29 hearing on the Franklin Shuttle line in Brookly s not a 
single board member turned out. For a hearing two weeks ago on entrance 
closings at seven stations, Dolny was the only board member who bothered 
to appear - and he came half an hour late.

   "You see this, and you get the feeling that the board members aren't 
really all that interested in what the public has to say," Russianoff 
said.

   He isn't the first person to notice this less-than-fervent level of 
concern.

   Several years ago, Assemb. Catherine Nolan and state Sen. Frank 
Padavan, both from Queens, proposed a state law that would have required 
a minimum attendance at MTA public hearings. But the MTA lobbied hard 
against it, and the proposal was never adopted.

   More recently, state Sen. Norman Levy, the chairman of the Senate's 
powerful Transportation Committee, extracted promises from several board 
members, including Fife and Riccio, that they would take these hearings 
seriously. After all, they are the public's main chance to be heard.

   t t if anything, attendance seems to be dropping again. No one, 
however, has outdone Affinito's now-legendary no-shows.

   It's hard to understand her thinking here. She serves on a whole host 
of private corporate boards (Chrysler, Caterpillar, Kmart, New York 
Telephone, Jostens, Tambrands). Maybe she's overextended. Maybe they pay 
better than the MTA. (The $ 150 a day that state board members used to 
earn was cut out on May 10, 1992, as an economy measure.)

   The man who appointed Affinito, Gov. Mario Cuomo, might want to ask 
her about some of this. As for me, God knows I've tried.

   On Friday, I called Affinito for her spin on all this, even left a 
detailed message on her voice mail. I always try to do that when I write 
about someone. It's only fair, I figure. Of course, Affinito didn't call 
back.

   (The best explanation her handlers at MTA headquarters could manage 
was this: Although Affinito's name isn't listed on the official 
attendance rosters, sheltight have shown up late for one of these 
hearings, March 11 of this year, on the proposed subway-fare increase. 
And, oh yes, members of the public are allowed to speak, on carethlly 
limited topics, before other MTA meetings. When that happens, she always 
listens carefully.)



                                                                       
PAGE    3                              Newsday, July 11, 1993                             


   Her failure to call back on Friday came as no great surprise to me. In 
my 3 1/2 years of writing about the subway, Affinito has never once 
consented to speak with me. I don't take this personally, mind you. As 
far as I know, she hasn't spoken with any other newspaper writer during 
that time. It's a personal policy of hers, her colleagues explain - this 
refusing to answer any questions.

   She must figure, somehow or another, that we represent the public and 
- well, you know how Affinito feels about the public.

   Zero for 26, that's how she feels. Or is it one for 26? Either way ...