In the throes of a transit crisis, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tapped Joe Lhota to get the trains running on time.

Advocates cheered the decision. Lhota had served a stint at the helm the MTA in 2012 and was credited for getting the subways running in again following Hurricane Sandy. Because he was so sought after, he was allowed to keep his job as chief of staff at NYU Langone Medical Center, as well as serve as a paid board member on boards of his choice.

Now in a New York Times report, Lhota is coming under renewed scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest regarding his external roles as well as his ability to balance his many commitments.

Brian Rosenthal spoke with WNYC's All Things Considered host Jami Floyd.

"Joe Lhota has been there for 11 months and the on-time performance of the subway has gone down," said Brian Rosenthal, an investigative reporter for the New York Times Metro desk.

Lhota reportedly earned $2.5 million last year from NYU Langone and eight other board positions, including one at Madison Square Garden. The MTA is one of several agencies involved in the redevelopment of Penn Station, which sits directly below the Garden, and recently agreed to renovate two adjacent subway stations.

Lhota told The Times that since the day-to-day operations of the agency are in other people's hands, and he had forgone his $300,000 salary, his other commitments did not pose conflicts of interest.