By Philip Newman
“Hey Jude,” where was Nancy when the MTA Finance Committee approved all those terrible fare hikes and service cuts?
With Paul in London, of course.
Yes, Nancy Shevell is an MTA board member and a girl hates to miss these meetings. But, you see, there was this tres chic party for the grand opening of the film, “The Boat that Rocked.” In Notting Hill, no less.
Shevell, 47, and Paul McCartney, 66, danced the night away.
“Paul twirled her around the floor to the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ and many [19]60s tunes,” according to London newspapers.
Two days after the Finance Committee approved the MTA’s doomsday plan, Shevell was present March 25 and accounted for during the final 12−1 vote by the full board of the transit agency.
All business, she had her say during discussions over the MTA’s financial plight.
Shevell, who lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and has a house in East Hampton, said “regretfully, without the deserved government funding we are left no choice” other than approving the cuts and fare increases.
“We do plead with those in Albany to do the right thing to rescue transit,” she said.
Shevell, legally separated from her former husband, Bruce Blakeman, is vice president of a family−owned company, New England Motor Freight Inc., and rich in her own right.
She also skipped a Finance Committee meeting last year for a fashion show by the Beatle’s daughter, Stella, in Paris, where they shared the front row with actresses Salma Hayek and Thandie Newton, singer Beth Ditto and former model Twiggy.
Nancy and Paul have also been spotted on the beaches of the Caribbean island of Antigua.
Appointed to the MTA board by Gov. George Pataki, her term runs until 2011.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e−mail at news@timesledger.com or phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 136.
