- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186236", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b23481589", "type"=>"local_b"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 186236", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"2020-2022", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"2020/2022"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"MTA 1982 and 1987 Capital Programs oral histories"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"26 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2.8 gigabytes", "unit"=>"gigabytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Manuscripts and Archives</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan region. In 1982, the MTA launched its first Capital Program, a five-year investment in improvements that addressed vast structural and ridership problems. The MTA 1982 and 1987 Capital Programs oral histories contain audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with ten major figures who worked for the MTA during its first two Capital Programs from 1982 to 1991. The interviews focus on this era of transformation in the MTA's history, covering the years 1979 to 1992. Nine interviews were conducted during 2020 and 2021 by former MTA employee Wendy Feuer; an interview with Feuer herself was conducted by Susan Weiner in 2022."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Feuer, Wendy", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan region. Founded in 1965, the MTA is the largest public transit organization in North America, operating the following agencies as of 2024: New York City Transit (which includes the New York City Subway, Staten Island Railway, and New York City Bus); Long Island Rail Road; Metro-North Railroad; MTA Bus Company; Construction and Development; and Bridges and Tunnels.</p> <p>In 1982, the MTA launched its first five-year Capital Program, a series of improvements primarily to the New York City Subway, Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North Railroad that addressed breakdowns, unsanitary cars, signal malfunctions, crime on subways, poor signage, and low ridership, among other existing problems. Spearheaded by MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch and continued by his successor, Robert Kiley, the first Capital Program invested more than seven billion dollars into the subway, bus, and commuter rail systems from 1982 to 1987. Major train yards were reconstructed, new subway cars purchased and deployed, existing cars refurbished, and a new structure of capital financing was devised and employed. A second Capital Program followed from 1987 to 1991 under Kiley's leadership that focused on revising management structure, particulalry at New York City Transit. The MTA Five-Year Capital Programs have continued as of 2024.</p> <p>After Kiley's death in 2016, Wendy Feuer, former director of MTA's Arts for Transit (currently MTA Arts & Design), decided to record oral histories of MTA employees who worked during the first two Capital Programs. Feuer conducted interviews with nine employees from 2020 to 2021; she was also interviewed for the project in 2022 by Susan Weiner, a former lawyer for the MTA. After the interviews were professionally transcribed, Feuer and the narrators edited the transcripts for clarity, adding additional information when necessary.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The MTA 1982 and 1987 Capital Programs oral histories contain audio recordings of ten interviews with former MTA employees conducted between 2020 and 2022, along with transcripts of each interview. All narrators worked for the MTA during its first two Capital Programs from 1982 to 1991, and the interviews cover the years 1979 to 1992. Wendy Feuer, who organized the oral history project, conducted nine of the ten interviews; her own interview was conducted by Susan Weiner, a former lawyer for the MTA. Recordings and their corresponding transcripts are grouped together and arranged alphabetically by narrator last name. Agreement forms signed by each narrator are ordered at the end of the alphabetical list.</p> <p>There are two dates listed for recordings and transcripts. The first is the interview date, and the second is the date of the finalized transcript (all transcripts were finalized on October 17, 2022).</p> <p>The transcripts feature annotations by Feuer or the narrators, added after the interviews were completed. These annotations, mostly clarifications or elaborations on a topic, are in brackets throughout the transcripts. Feuer also added hyperlinks to web pages containing information about people mentioned in the interviews. Each transcript lists the interview location as well.</p> <p>The ten people interviewed are: Maggie Boepple, Mortimer Downey, Wendy Feuer, William Goldstein, Amy Linden, Ronay Menschel, Patricia Moore, David Plavin, Steven Polan, and Richard Ravitch. Full job titles held during the time period covered in the interviews are noted in the container list; several narrators worked in the financial and budgetary offices of the MTA.</p> <p>Each person discusses the era spanning the MTA's first two Capital Programs. The interviews focus on financial planning and decision-making for projects completed during the Capital Programs, the internal organization of the MTA, management, professional relationships between MTA employees, and political elements of the Capital Programs, specifically in regards to fundraising, lobbying, and negotiating. The narrators also touch on their own backgrounds and what brought them to the MTA.</p> <p>Of special interest is Chairman Richard Ravitch's interview, in which he relays his dealings with major New York political figures, including New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Also notable is Chief Financial Officer Mortimer Downey's interview, in which he discusses early financial plans for the first Capital Program and procuring and purchasing train cars from manufacturers outside the United States.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alphabetical by last name.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Wendy Feuer in 2022.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Nathan Evans</span> in <span class=\"date\">2024</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
2020
- keydate
-
2020
- date_end
-
2022
- date_inclusive_start
-
2020
- date_inclusive_end
-
2022
- extent_statement
-
2.8 gigabytes (26 computer files)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"MTA 1982 and 1987 Capital Programs oral histories, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library"}