The best party for public transit in town! 🎉
Transit Champion
Mike Pratt
Former President and CEO of the Scherman Foundation
Mike Pratt has been fighting for the subways and congestion pricing for over 45 years. First, as Campaign Director of the Straphangers Campaign, where he and Gene Russianoff imagined “tolling the East River bridges” as a critical piece of rebuilding an affordable, functional mass transit system.
After spending a decade as a civil rights lawyer, Mike returned to transit activism in 1996 as an early funder of the congestion pricing campaign at the Scherman Foundation. He then served as Scherman’s President and CEO from 2009 until his retirement in 2026, helping to mobilize funding for a series of congestion pricing and mass transit efforts including Riders Alliance, Straphangers Campaign, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Transportation Alternatives, Move NY, and many other coalitions who have fought relentlessly and successfully.
As a former community organizer and long-time movement builder and racial justice champion, he is especially proud of encouraging the creation of Riders Alliance, which he claims is “the best thing to happen to the transit system for a long, long time.” As a native New Yorker and lover of the subway, Mike is forever grateful to be part of its rejuvenation.
Transit Hero
1199SEIU
Largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in the nation
Every day, the members of 1199SEIU save lives, deliver babies and care for the sick, seniors and people with disabilities. They are frontline caregivers in hospitals, nursing homes, homecare, clinics, pharmacies and all other areas of the healthcare industry. Riders Alliance is proud to share members between our two organizations whose experiences our two organizations whose experiences as healthcare workers have shaped our campaigns and strengthened the power of our movement.
While many organizations accept the state of transit as something beyond their influence, 1199SEIU has consistently understood that better transit is something worth organizing for. We’ve seen this union’s power firsthand in the fight to expand Fair Fares, which for the first time ever will now include those working full time minimum wage jobs. We’ve seen the power in the campaign to deliver faster buses on Flatbush Avenue, where the most ambitious bus project of any recent mayoral administration is now underway. And we’ve seen the power in our growing work to build better transportation options across New York State.
1199SEIU members and leaders have shown up, spoken out, and helped turn demands into historic wins on each of these campaigns. Whether standing alongside riders at public events, lending their voice to critical campaigns, or bringing the perspective of union members into broader fights for justice, 1199SEIU has helped build a stronger movement to deliver a transit system worthy of the people who keep New York running.
Grassroots Action Award
Fair Fares Expansioneers
This year, thanks to the unrelenting advocacy of riders, New York City committed tens of millions of new dollars to expand Fair Fares eligibility to New Yorkers who earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level. This is a victory Riders Alliance has been fighting to achieve for many years and will help 340,000 more New Yorkers qualify for half-price transit.
This win is the largest expansion since the program was created – and the Fair Fares Expansioneers made it happen during a year when every last budget dollar was fiercely contested and relatively few programs saw meaningful new investments. These leaders joined us at rallies, called elected officials, testified at hearings, and helped raise our collective voice to demand more affordable transit for all. We are thrilled to honor all the hard work of these riders and to recognize the immense difference their work has made for millions of transit riders in our city.
Dennis Lichtman & Tamar Korn
Dennis Lichtman and Tamar Korn have collaborated for nearly 20 years in western swing sextet The Brain Cloud, early jazz band The Cangelosi Cards, Tamar's effortlessly elastic and undefinable Kornucopia, and have recorded for Carnegie Hall and the Irish Arts Center's Grásta: Life in Uncertainty series.
Tamar's unique voice and imaginative improvisational spirit transcend the 1920s jazz style for which she is best known. Dennis is a multi-instrumental wizard who leaps effortlessly from clarinet to string instruments across and through countless styles of American and international acoustic roots music. Together, they spin familiar early jazz and swing tunes (and more) into uncharted territory with an intimate yet freewheeling flair.
We’re so excited to have these two perform live at the gala this year!
2026 CO-HOST COMMITTEE
(currently in formation)
Movement Builders
Paul Gertner • Mark Gorton
Transit Heroes
Eric Schwartz & Debra Fram
Super Conductors
Natasha Avanessians & Russ Murphy • John Raskin & Eric Schneider
Express Conductors
Meeta Anand & H James Lucas • Hudson, Rafael, Tokumbo & Sheethal Shobowale • Law Office of Adam D. White
Conductors
Katrina Baker & Michael Benn • Martha W. King • Anna & Peter Levin • Margie McHugh • Kirsten Shaw • Sharon Wyse & Ray Palermo
Bus Warriors
Jeff Blum • DalyGonzalez • Tabitha Decker • Madeline Labadie & Patrick McClellan •
Dawn Miller & Jim Thomson • Anthony Ng
Rider Advocates
Matt Green • Prof. Christina Greer • Ryder Kessler • Ned Klein • Justin Lapatine • Mark Lee • Raju Mann • Joan Marlow Golan • Daniel McPhee • Kathrine Mott • Martha Norrick & Dom Williams • Will Sherman • Lauren Tsuboyama
For more information about joining the co-host committee, please click here.
2026 CORPORATE SPONSORS
(currently in formation)
Transit Hero
Super Conductors
Express Conductors
Edison Properties • NYC Ferry • TYLin
Conductors
Meatpacking District Management Association • New York League of Conservation Voters • Reinvent Albany • Unit Two Development
For more information about corporate sponsorship, please click here.