Ira Goldstein, BA '85

Ensuring New York City taxi safety

You don’t have to remind Ira Goldstein, B.A. ’85, that New York is the city that never sleeps. For the past two years, he’s served as the Chief of Staff of NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), an agency dedicated to assuring that New Yorkers arrive safely to important board meetings, hit Broadway shows and return home after a night out at the clubs. Because city residents and visitors rely so heavily on cab service while traveling around “The Big Apple,” Goldstein often has to put in long hours at the office.

“We are the most active taxi and limousine licensing regulatory agency in the country,” said the Huntington, NY native. “Most cities don’t have a separate taxi commission, but it’s essential that New York have one based on its size. It’s rewarding to be part of a public service, but it can also be very stressful. Believe it or not, my days are more hectic now than they were when I worked on Wall Street. Anyone who thinks working for city government is an easy gig would be quite surprised.”

Created it 1971, the TLC today licenses and regulates 100,000 drivers and more than 50,000 vehicles, including the city’s medallion (yellow) taxicabs, for-hire vehicles, commuter vans, paratransit vehicles and certain luxury limousines. The agency also performs safety and emissions inspections of approximately 12,000 taxicabs three times each year and holds numerous hearings for violations of city rules and regulations. Goldstein has been with the commission since 2001, when he came on board on a temporary basis as a per diem attorney.

“At the time, I really didn’t have any long-term aspirations,” he admitted. “I started here a month before 9/11 and our offices were about three blocks away from the World Trade Center. After the attacks, I began working at the Office of Emergency Management doing the overnight shift. We in the TLC convinced the industries that we regulate to set up free taxi stands at the family center, the Red Cross centers and all the different hospitals. We were displaced from the offices for about seven weeks and when we came back I was given the chance to prove myself as the executive director of the consumer relations division. After a few months, I also took on the title of assistant to the chief of staff and, when my boss announced her resignation in June 2002, I was given the opportunity to take over the position.”

Government roots at UB

It was while studying at UB that Goldstein got his first taste of what it’s like to hold a governmental position as he was elected the Chairman of the Student Senate. Upon earning a degree in faculty of social sciences, he accepted a position with Worldwide Media Services, a New York City-based import/export company. After five years on the job, he decided the time was right to fulfill his longtime ambition of entering law school. He went on to graduate from both Touro Law Center and Fordham University School of Law, and was hired to practice real estate litigation and do in-house legal work for a Wall Street brokerage firm.

Giving back

Recently, he’s begun to use his wealth of experience as a way to give back to his alma mater. “A few months back, I volunteered for a mentor program that the UB Alumni Association was running in New York City and I thought it was just great,” said Goldstein, who resides in Whitestone, NY. “I’ve been telling friends of mine all about it. It wasn’t the typical luncheon or dinner where you all sit around. They set it up based on different areas of interest and I was with placed with a group of fellow alumni who also worked in government. We were able to meet with recent UB graduates and upperclassmen and have a good exchange with them. Usually, with a state school, you don’t think of alumni as being that important. But I was so impressed with the event that I signed up with the alumni association and I plan to get more involved with it.”

Written by Keith Page
September 2005

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