Verizon, AOL and Yahoo Merge to Create New Company, Oath

Leecia Eve, Former VP of State Government Affairs for NJ, NY and CT at Verizon, talks about “Oath,” a new company formed under Verizon after merging AOL and Yahoo.

11/18/17 #122

Excerpt:

"We are thrilled to be joined, once again, by our friend Leecia Eve, who is Vice President of State Government Affairs for New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, at Verizon. Good to see you. Good to see you, as always. And you love public broadcasting? Yes I do. I'm a huge fan. Yes! Yes. Go NJTV! Yes! [laughter] See? I knew you were going to do that! [laughter] Alright, alright, alright. Yes, you have a very close connection to us. I would say that. Yeah. Probably so. Yes. But we're not here to talk about that. We're talking about some things going on. By the way, talk about public service. You just became a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey? Yes I did. Extraordinarily honored. I had my first board meeting in July. I was nominated by Governor Cuomo of New York, whom I had worked for for a number of years, and confirmed by the the Senate in New York in June. I had my first meeting, along with a number of other commissioners appointed by Governor Christie and Governor Cuomo, we all had our first meeting together in July. Including with our new chairman Kevin O'Toole. That's right. Yes. And Senator O'Toole came on to be the chair? Yes. Biggest issues the Port is facing, impacting us? Well I mean, of course... Is it the Gateway? Is it the Gateway? Well Gateway is obviously huge right? Right. It's a 30 billion dollar project. The tunnel? Yes. Let everybody understand the Gateway Tunnel. Check it out. Yes. Read about it. Go ahead. And it's critically important frankly, not just for our region, but it's important for the economic vitality of the East Coast in the United States. How so? Because of the the tunnels that are currently existing, that take train traffic from, say, Washington DC to New England. Hmm. I mean just think about the movement of commerce and people, for entertainment, for government, for private sector purposes, the movement of people from Washington DC to New England, you have to use those tunnels that are currently existing, but as a practical matter, are close to 100 years old. And so the Gateway project is critically important, as I've mentioned, not just for the region, but really for the economy, for the Northeast, and for the broader country. And it's reflected... the importance is reflected in the fact that you had Governor's Christie, Cuomo, you had the New York Congressional Delegation led by... New Jersey? Right. Who's... in New York? In the Congressional Delegation? Senator Schumer. That's right. Chuck Schumer. And then you had Senator Booker... That's right. ...there, as well as a number of members of Congress, all meeting in the White House..."