Clarelle DeGraffe wanted to be an engineer since she was 5-years-old. Little did the Haitian-born DeGraffe know that 29 years after she joined the Port Authority as a civil engineer, she would become the FIRST woman to lead Port Authority Trans-Hudson in its 57-year history.
“Civil engineering is in my DNA,” said DeGraffe, whose father also was a civil engineer. “It always fascinated me seeing buildings, highway projects and bridges. I always dreamt of being a part of designing and constructing such massive projects.”
In her new role, DeGraffe will carry out PATH’s mission of safely and efficiently moving nearly 300,000 passengers daily across the Hudson River. She will oversee implementation of PATH’s capital program, including the ongoing project to replace equipment and rebuild tunnels that were damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, overseeing the completion of the remaining phases of Communications-Based Train Control, and take on the challenge of continuing to improve PATH’s reliability and focus on customer experience initiatives.
“Every Commissioner here is proud of your 29 years at the Port Authority,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole at the agency’s Board meeting last week. “There was a search that we did and we looked high and low for someone to lead this agency and we came back right here, to you. We have full faith you can get the job done.”
DeGraffe is a recipient of the 2008 Harlem Black Achievers Award, a 2013 Honoree in Professional Women in Construction and a 2018 recipient of a Congressional Certificate of Merit for her community service in Southeast Queens. Continue Reading Here…..
