From The Wall Street Journal

MTA Board Loses Its Star Power

Nancy Shevell — or Lady McCartney, as one colleague called her — announced her resignation during Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.

Colleagues praised Shevell’s 11 years of service on the board. An executive with her family’s trucking firm, she was appointed in 2001 by then-Gov. George Pataki. Her term officially ended in 2010, but she remained on the board as a holdover.

Shevell’s public profile rose dramatically when she married Paul McCartney last year.

In the media reports about their relationship, the former Beatle was “accurately described as the greatest living performer in the world,” board member Mark D. Lebow noted during the meeting. Shevell, he said, was listed simply as “an MTA board member.”

As her profile grew, Lebow said that ”a little bit of your stardust sort of fell off on us.”

“I am so very emotional and sad right now,” Shevell said. She offered praise for MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, who headed his first meeting of the board Tuesday, and encouragement to her colleagues for the “massive challenges ahead of you.”

Lhota also announced the departure of Pat Foye, who resigned his seat on the board after his appointment to lead the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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