Larry Hanley, national president of 200,000-member Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), died suddenly of pulmonary disease May 7 at the age of 62.
A bus driver, he became president of Staten Island Local 726 in 1987. He allied with community groups to fight transit fare increases, and helped found the New York state Working Families Party. He won election as ATU national president in 2010 after fighting to oust mob-connected officials in a Queens local.
As head of the national union, he advocated for better funding of mass transit as a response to climate change. Hundreds turned out to his funeral in Staten Island, and locals around the country observed a moment of silence May 14.
Mr. Hanley was born in 1956 and not in 1957.