After two decades of managing the debt portfolio for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, finance director Patrick McCoy will leave the agency early next year to take on a new assignment in the transit arena.
"Pat McCoy will be deputy chief financial officer for the Gateway Development Commission, as we continue to build out our financial, legal and technical capacity to ensure we successfully deliver the Gateway Hudson Tunnel project," Stephen Sigmund, chief of public outreach for Gateway, told The Bond Buyer.
"I've been at the MTA since 2002 and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it," McCoy told The Bond Buyer. "It's a bittersweet feeling to be leaving because I have a deep fondness for this institution and my fellow employees and our mission of moving New Yorkers around as efficiently as we can."
But, he said, he is looking forward to a new challenge. He takes his new post on Feb. 6.
"They're looking for me to come over and help with the Gateway project and I'm thrilled to have that opportunity to join the team," McCoy said. "It's a very important project with regional implications. To be part of that team is going to be very exciting."
The bistate agency oversees the $16.1 billion project for new and renovated rail infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor.
The work is a joint undertaking among the Gateway Planning Development Corp., Amtrak, NJTransit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the states of New York and New Jersey.
Financing includes federal funds, money from the project's local partners and from Amtrak. The cost estimate was revised in August, increasing 14% from last year's projection.
In May, the Commission tapped former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority approved payments to help finance the state's share of the project, according to NJ.com. Under the agreement, the state treasurer will make an annual $124 million payment on behalf of the state.
The agreement also calls for the Turnpike Authority to contribute an additional $1.66 million monthly starting next year to the Gateway Commission budget. Last week, the Commission approved its $58 million operating and capital budget, NJ.com said.
McCoy has a long history in the municipal space and at MTA. He served in 2007 as executive director of the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority before returning to the MTA in 2008.
"In the 14 years since then, I've served as director of finance and most recently as deputy chief for financial services," he said.
McCoy managed the MTA's $47.9 billion debt portfolio counting Hudson Yards debt, excluding Hudson Yards total outstanding debt totals $47.1 billion.
McCoy is also a past president of the Government Finance Officers Association, serving from 2016 to 2017.
"At this point in my career, I am eager to take on a new challenge," McCoy said. "I am focused on the fact that I'm going to be able to continue in public service and work to deliver important infrastructure for the region."
He said one thing he learned at the MTA was the interconnectedness of the public transportation network.
"This is so essential for this region. So, I feel really honored to be able to continue in that vein," he said. "In my time here at the MTA I've had wonderful opportunities to work with great people who are smart and committed — and I'm going to miss the MTA folks but there will continue to be opportunities to work together and collaborate because of that interconnectedness."
