She then served as President of the Financial Services Corporation, a nonprofit organization which functioned as the financing arm for the city's economic development initiatives.

[1] Iris Weinshall was appointed commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani on September 8, 2000, succeeding Wilbur L.

[5] To enhance traffic flow in the city's most congested area, Midtown Manhattan, Weinshall and Mayor Bloomberg announced the 2003 THRU Streets Program.

[6] Her attempt to increase vehicle flow through historic Park Slope, Brooklyn by making several avenues one-way was abandoned after hundreds of residents packed a meeting to argue that the plan would jeopardize pedestrian safety by encouraging speeding.

Close to $3 billion was spent on rehabilitating the city's East River bridges and, thanks to new incentives clauses for contractors, much of the work was completed ahead of schedule.

[citation needed] On January 29, 2007, Weinshall announced that she was stepping down as DOT commissioner and would take a job as CUNY's Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning, Construction and Management.

The $40 million, 310 foot vessels were built by the Manitowoc Marine Group in Marinette, Wisconsin, and replaced the Kennedy class ferries, which have been in operation for more than 40 years.

[citation needed] The normally low profile job of DOT Commissioner came into the spotlight following the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash that killed 11 passengers.

In October 2005, after a year long effort to develop and implement a comprehensive safety management system for the Staten Island Ferry, the American Bureau of Shipping presented the Department of Transportation with a "Voluntary Document of Compliance Certificate" for the DOT Staten Island Ferry Division and "Voluntary Safety Management Certificates" for all operational ferryboats.

The New York City Department of Transportation is now the first ferry operator in the United States to voluntarily comply with this internationally accepted safety regime.

DOT installed bike lanes linking the East River bridges and Downtown Brooklyn, which is home to a growing cycling community.

Vesselinovitch claimed that Weinshall prevented him from installing bike lanes, and that Deputy Commissioner Michael Primeggia told him to "butt out" when he attempted to fix bumps on the Williamsburg Bridge that were costing New York City millions in lawsuits.

[11][12] Following Vesselinovitch's departure, Weinshall appointed Ryan Russo as Director for Street Management and Safety, overseeing the department's bicycle and pedestrian initiatives.