An Indian-origin woman, nominated by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to lead the city's crucial taxi and limousine agency, has been unanimously confirmed by the city council to serve as the agency's new CEO.
Meera Joshi got all 46 votes in her favour at a poll in the New York City Council yesterday and will now serve as the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which regulates the city's network of yellow and green taxis and livery cabs.
Joshi's nomination was announced by the mayor on March 8.
"I was incredibly honoured to have been nominated by Mayor de Blasio to lead the TLC at this historic time and doubly so to know that the City Council shares his confidence in my abilities," said Joshi, a University of Pennsylvania alumnus.
She vowed to work with regulated industries to help provide the world's finest for-hire ground transportation.
Joshi had previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Affairs and General Counsel for the TLC, where she led dozens of multi-party negotiations of contracts and settlement agreements to improve customer service, and worked to reveal financial abuse of drivers, supervising significant reimbursements to drivers and their families, and overseeing the prosecution of those responsible.
Prior to that, Joshi had served as First Deputy Executive Director of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), where she implemented a pilot programme with the New York Police Department that led to the creation of an independent prosecution unit that expanded the agency's jurisdiction and sphere of influence.
She was also instrumental in the city's commitment to 50 per cent wheelchair accessibility by 2020, and the requirement that all taxicabs be crash-tested to federal standards by the end of 2014.
The Mayor had described Joshi as a "dedicated public servant" with the experience and energy to move the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission in a progressive direction, "ensuring we prioritise New Yorkers' safety".
Joshi's nomination had got support from the city's taxi workers' unions.
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers expressed confidence that the group would work with Joshi in "ensuring the city's thousands of drivers are treated fairly and that the taxi industry continues to be a beacon of economic opportunity for New Yorkers and their families".
Joshi is the latest Indian-origin official to be named to serve in de Blasio's administration.
Indian-origin lawyer Nisha Agarwal has been appointed by the mayor as head of immigrant affairs in his office and will be responsible with seeing through the city administration's immigration agenda as well as improving outreach to immigrant-owned businesses.
