Resignation letters are also the sort of document that public agencies are required to be release under the state's Freedom of Information Law. But oddly enough, the MTA isn't sharing. The agency has rebuffed multiple FOIL requests sent by Gothamist/WNYC in recent months, explaining that they need "additional time" to locate the letter.
Experts say there's little justification for the MTA's reticence.
“From my understanding this should be easily available and there’d be no difficulty in them producing this immediately," said David Roth, an attorney with Roth & Roth who frequently FOILs the MTA. "They could produce this one piece of paper quite easily.”
Indeed, enough people have seen the resignation letter that its contents have now been described by sources in two separate news stories (Dwyer confirmed to Gothamist that he had not seen the letter directly). According to the source who spoke to Politico for their story, the resignation centered on two main complaints from Byford: "He’s tired of having to help organize gubernatorial-driven conferences about signaling and technology, which distract him from his job of improving subway and bus service, and he’s disinclined to preside over possible service cuts or layoffs."
In a statement, MTA spokesperson Tim Minton cited the high number of requests that the agency fields as justification for the continued withholding of the letter.
“The MTA receives hundreds of Freedom of Information Law requests for information and documents a month," Minton explained. "They are processed and reviewed in accordance with the requirements of the law."
