Obituary: E. Virgil Conway, Montauk Native and Former MTA Chairman, Dies at 85

E. Virgil Conway, a Montauk native who served as both Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) chairman and as a member of the MTA Board, died on Wednesday, Oct. 21 in Southampton. He was 85.

Conway attended the Montauk School and East Hampton High School and was valedictorian at both schools, according to 27east.

His father, Edmund Virgil Conway II, was treasurer and CEO of Carl Fisher’s Montauk Beach Company, 27east reports.

Conway worked as both an attorney and a banker before began his tenure with the MTA Board as our Westchester representative.

In 1995, he was asked by then Governor George E. Pataki to take on the responsibility of chairman.

He continued in that role until March 2001, serving as the seventh chairman of the MTA.

“Virgil was a hugely influential and effective chairman, and many of the successes and accomplishments the MTA celebrates today are the result of his hard work and his heartfelt service to the region,” MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast said. “He remains a beloved member of the MTA family, and he will be sorely missed.”

Conway spearheaded the preparation and funding for the 2000-2004 Capital Program, which at the time was the most ambitious and far-reaching program in MTA history.

That effort launched several extraordinary projects to expand the system and change the shape of the region’s public transit to fuel our economy and better served customers.

These megaprojects include the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access - bringing the Long Island Rail Road directly into Grand Central Terminal - and the recently-completed 7 Train extension to Manhattan’s Far West Side.

His efforts helped ensure these projects will transform our region, while at the same time improving service reliability by giving customers new ways to get where they’re going.

Conway also oversaw the rollout of the MTA’s MetroCard.

He implemented fare discounts and eliminated “two-fare zones”dramatically reducing the average cost of a ride.

He brought to fruition the restoration of Grand Central Terminal, which began under his predecessor, Peter E. Stangl and was instrumental in bringing essential components of our system to a state of good repair, continuing the MTA’s decades-long work to rebuild from the graffiti, grime, and overall disrepair of the 1970s and ‘80s.