Sarah Feinberg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the New York City Transit Authority | |
Interim | |
| In office March 2, 2020[1] – July 2021 | |
| Governor | Andrew Cuomo |
| Preceded by | Andy Byford |
| Succeeded by | Craig Cipriano (interim) Richard A. Davey |
| Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration | |
| In office 2015–2017 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Joseph C. Szabo |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Warren (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 3, 1977 Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Washington and Lee University (BA) National Defense University |
Sarah Elizabeth Feinberg (born October 3, 1977) is an American civic employee who previously served as the Interim President of the New York City Transit Authority from 2020 to 2021, and a former Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. She was nominated for the role of MTA Chairperson but was ultimately not selected for the position.[2] Her background is mostly in communications.[1]
Feinberg is a native of Charleston, West Virginia.[3][4][5][2] Her father is attorney Lee Franklin Feinberg, a West Virginia state legislator, and her mother is Mary Elizabeth Stanley, until 2013 a U.S. District Court judge in West Virginia.[6][7][8]
She attended Washington and Lee University, where she obtained a B.A. in Politics in 1999. She also attended National Defense University in 2008-09, studying Middle East foreign policy.[2][6]
Feinberg spent a number of years on Capitol Hill beginning in 1999, including working for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, as the communications director for the House Democratic Caucus, the press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the national press secretary to then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.[4][2][9][7]
From 2009-10, she served in the Obama administration as special assistant to the president, and senior advisor to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.[4][5]
Feinberg served as Bloomberg LP’s Global Communications Director (2010-11), and as the Director of Policy and Crisis Communications at Facebook (2011-13).[4][5][2]
In 2017 she founded Feinberg Strategies, LLC, a strategic business and communications consulting practice focused on the tech sector.[4]
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From 2013 to 2015 she served as chief of staff of United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony R. Foxx in the US Department of Transportation, providing strategic advice and counsel to the Secretary regarding operational and legislative initiatives.[4][5][2][9]
Feinberg, from 2015 to 2017, served as the 13th Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the safety regulator of the U.S. rail system, becoming the second woman in history to do so.[10][11] She was nominated for the post by President Obama in June 2015, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.[12] Feinberg served on the Amtrak board of directors during that time, and has been a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission, starting in 2015.[4][2] Feinberg was instrumental in helping Governor Andrew Cuomo resolve a LIRR dispute in 2016.
Beginning in February 2019, she was a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board, where she was the Transit Committee Chair.[4][5][11] In March 2020, Cuomo appointed her interim President of the New York City Transit Authority after the resignation of Andy Byford.[4][5][13] She stepped away from her position as an MTA Board member to serve.[11] On June 8, 2021, Cuomo nominated Feinberg to be chairperson of the MTA, succeeding Pat Foye, who had been both chairperson and CEO.[14] Due to opposition to splitting the top role between two people, the state Senate did not act on her nomination; as a result, Feinberg left the MTA on July 30, 2021.[15]
Feinberg currently serves on the StoryCorps board of directors.[4][2]
She is a resident of the East Village in Manhattan, New York City, with her partner and daughter.[4][5][16] She was previously married to Dan Pfeiffer.[1]
