Moving NYC Forward

January: Advocating for Better Transit

Congratulations to the ABNY Young Professionals January Spotlights of the Month—Danna Dennis is a Senior Organizer at Riders Alliance and Adrian Untermyer, Assistant Director, Rail Inter-Carrier Agreements, NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations who are highlighted for driving the push for a more efficient, sustainable, and accessible transit system in New York City

Danna Dennis

Senior Organizer
Riders Alliance
Can you share the journey that led you to your current role as a Senior Community Organizer

My path has been shaped by a deep passion for enacting positive change in my community, which has driven me since childhood. At a young age I started volunteering in church and even helped organize an international mission trip to South Africa with my church youth group. I got into the fight for Transit Justice almost eleven years ago when I stumbled upon a flyer at a local C-train station in Bedstuy. I couldn’t believe someone was trying to improve service. I decided to volunteer with the Riders Alliance and three years later ultimately applied for a full-time position. I found it to be a white male dominated space, but I also knew most of the people who were transit dependent were folks of color and we needed more representation in rooms where transportation policies were being decided.

 

What achievement makes you feel the most proud in your career?

I take great pride in my work that creates tangible change for millions of New Yorkers. My commitment to prioritizing people over policies is at the heart of this achievement, and it motivates me daily. An example of that is winning $106 Million in the 2018 NYC budget for discounted Metro Card for Low-income ages 18-64 living at or below the federal poverty level. Currently more than 350,000 riders are enrolled.

What guidance would you offer someone aspiring to enter the field of community organizing?

I wish someone had informed me earlier that organizing could be a viable career path. My journey hasn’t been traditional, and neither does it need to be for others. It’s possible to transform a concern into a powerful campaign for real change in your community. Stay true to your values, draw from your lived experiences—those are your strengths—and foster impactful spaces with like-minded individuals.

When did you come to the realization that you truly identify as a New Yorker?

Although I was born and raised in this city, my sense of identity was also shaped by my childhood summers in Savannah, GA, and my undergraduate years in Herkimer, NY. Both experiences highlighted the contrast between their serene environments and the vibrant chaos I missed, such as local bodegas, distant sirens, exposure to different languages and cultures and, of course, the subway!

Adrian Untermyer

Assistant Director, Rail Inter-Carrier Agreements
NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations
How did you get to where you are today?

My great-grandmother cleaned Pullman cars in the Chicago rail yards. My great-grandfather pushed for the reorganization of New York City’s subways and fought to keep the fare at an affordable five cents. One of my grandfathers grew up between two rail lines, and the other traveled via the Twentieth Century Limited, a crack passenger train at that time. So an interest in, and career on, the railroad was therefore somewhat inevitable!

What are you most proud of?

Our 40th Anniversary Express celebratory trip. When NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations celebrated four decades of dedicated public service in 2023, I had the honor of helping formulate and execute a plan to showcase the progress we made over the years after being formed from a cobbled-together amalgam of bankrupt railroads back in 1983. The trip sold out in eight minutes, featured three antique railcars on the hind end (including the car which transported Robert F. Kennedy’s body to his funeral in 1968), and told the story of why investment in rail operations and infrastructure benefits us all — both now and over the decades to come.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in your field?

See things with your own eyes, even when it is inconvenient. On the railroad, we make safety-sensitive decisions which impact tens of thousands of rail passengers each and every day. One simply cannot make reasoned, lasting policy in the public interest without looking, learning, and listening firsthand. As my colleague Fred Chidester often says, “if we worked at McDonald’s, we would be the world’s foremost experts on the sesame seed bun!”

When did you realize that you are a New Yorker?

I have the tremendous privilege of serving on three nonprofit boards, including that of the Woodlawn Conservancy, which looks after an historic cemetery and National Historic Landmark in the Bronx. After I first visited our family plot there — and saw my last name inscribed in massive all-caps font on an immovable slab of rock — I figured it out.

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