Mamdani to name Midori Valdivia new head of Taxi and Limousine Commission
Mayor Mamdani is expected to appoint Midori Valdivia as commissioner of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, the Daily News has learned.
Valdivia, who currently serves on the MTA board, is a former deputy commissioner of the TLC, which regulates the city’s yellow cabs, liveries, Ubers and Lyfts. She served as TLC Commissioner of Finance and Administration from 2015 to 2017.
Mamdani is expected to make the announcement Tuesday evening at LaGuardia Airport, a major hub for taxi and ride-hailing app drivers.
Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec declined to comment ahead of the expected announcement, as did Bhairavi Desai, head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and a member of Mamdani’s transition team.
Valdivia itself could not be reached.
Valdivia’s appointment to the TLC comes after she was also considered to become Mamdani’s deputy mayor for operations or commissioner of the Department of Transportation, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Ultimately, Mamdani chose Julia Kerson, a former infrastructure adviser to Governor Hochul, as deputy for operations, and transit expert Mike Flynn as DOT commissioner.
In Valdivia, Kerson and Flynn, Mamdani has three councilors with extensive transit experience — a strong team that could be essential for him as he seeks to fulfill his promise to make the city’s public buses fast and free.
But Mamdani also has a history of fiercely supporting taxi workers – a reputation that will put scrutiny on his choice to lead regulation of the sector.
As an Assembly member, Mamdani was among half a dozen elected officials arrested while rallying for greater debt relief for taxi drivers in 2021. During those protests, he also joined drivers on hunger strikes, a tactic that ultimately led then-Mayor de Blasio to cap debt payments for drivers suffering from the Medallion Crisis. taxi.
In addition to serving on the MTA and TLC Board of Directors, Valdivia has held numerous roles in New York area transit.
She cut her teeth at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, starting as a member in 2008 before becoming a senior advisor to the bi-state agency’s executive director.
After leaving the TLC in 2017, Valdivia served as chief of staff to two MTA presidents, Joe Lhota and Pat Foye, before leaving in 2020.
Valdivia then opened her own transportation and urban planning consulting firm in 2020. She has continued to lead that firm since former Mayor Eric Adams appointed her to the MTA board in 2022.
