Board of Commissioners

Howard Zemsky is managing partner of Larkin Development Group. The firm has developed 800,000 sq. ft. of commercial office space in Buffalo, NY, since 2000, including rehabilitation of the former Larkin Terminal Warehouse building. Howard is also a principal of Niagara’s Finest Inns, a group of boutique hotels and restaurants in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and managing partner of Taurus Partners LLC, a private equity firm in Buffalo.

Howard is President of the Richardson Center Corporation and Vice Chair of the Buffalo State College Council. He serves as a Commissioner of the NFTA. Howard also serves on the board of the Michigan Street Preservation Commission, Buffalo Place and the Martin House Restoration Corporation, where he served as President of the Board for five years.

Howard is a Director of Medical Recovery Management LLC and MOD-PAC Inc. and serves on the Advisory Board of First Niagara Financial Group.

Howard holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Rochester.

Currently, Henry Sloma is serving as Acting Chairman of the Board of the NFTA. Mr. Sloma was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in 1998. Prior to his election as Vice Chairman, he has served as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Authority.

In his business life, he is the President and CEO of the Heritage Health Care Group, LLC and Executive Vice President of Apollo Healthcare, LLC. By profession, he is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and was one of the first licensed Administrators in the State of New York. He has also served nine years on the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council (SHRPC) and served as Chairman of its Project Review Committee. With 40 years of experience in healthcare administration, he has served in a variety of healthcare administration roles.

In addition, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency and a Commissioner of Police for the Town of Lewiston.

As Chair of the Surface Transportation Committee, Commissioner Lewin has implemented the Going Green Campaign for the transportation system introducing hybrid buses; had oversight on the completion of the new transportation center in Niagara Falls; the implementation of the surface study in Niagara County that resulted in increased ridership and a more efficient system; and the implementation of the new service restructuring and fare study in Erie County that will result in enhanced public mobility and a more customer friendly network.

In her professional life, Commissioner Lewin is a 30-year member of the Buffalo Board of Education and its Committee on Special Education.

Since 1979, Commissioner Lewin has been employed as a bilingual Social Worker for the Committee on Special Education at the Buffalo Board of Education. Previously, she volunteered at Buffalo Catholic Charities in 1976, before being employed there for three years as a Social Worker and later obtaining a position with the Erie County Department of Social Services in the Division of Child Protection.

Commissioner Lewin enjoys giving back to the community through her service past and present: Trustee, the State University of New York Board of Trustees; founding member of Roswell Park Alliance; Founding member Issues Committee and Speaking Bureau; Trustee, Western NY Public Broadcasting Association; Trustee The Buffalo Seminary; the Commission on the Status of Women; Commissioner, American Red Cross; Greater Buffalo Chapter; Chair, Hispanic Outreach Committee; Chair, Vestry, St. Philip’s Episcopal church; Chair, Endowment Committee; member of Buffalo Urban League, Hispanic United of Buffalo and Canisius College Board of Regents. She is also a member of the Erie County Chapter of Links, Hispanic Women’s League and Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival Originators.

She was honored with the Ebony and Ivory Civic Award in 1994; inducted into The Western New York Women's Hall of Fame on March 14, 2002; and received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education in 2002; the National Conference for Community and Justice of Western New York 50th Annual Citation Award in 2003; and the Marcus Garvey Community Service Award in 2004.

Commissioner Lewin was born in Guantanamo, Cuba. Her family migrated to the United States in 1967. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City before moving to Buffalo in 1976. She obtained a Master's Degree in American and Puerto Rican Studies in 1978, and a Master's Degree in Educational Administration in 1989, both from the University at Buffalo.

Peter G. Demakos currently serves as Secretary of the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA) Board of Commissioners. He also acts as Chair of the Property & Risk Management Committee. The committee is responsible for non-public transportation properties that includes 1.3 +/- million square feet of industrial warehouse distribution and associated office space; 600 +/- acres of developed and undeveloped real estate.

He previously was Chair of Surface Transportation, where his duties included management of the light rail and metro bus. Mr. Demakos has dedicated his time to the NFTA since 2000.

In addition to his work at the NFTA, Mr. Demakos is the President of Niagara Blower Company (Buffalo, NY). Niagara provides engineered solutions to heat transfer applications at refinery, process, power, and food & beverage facilities worldwide. Before joining Niagara, Mr. Demakos was President of Triton Mechanical, a design-build Mechanical Contracting firm in Buffalo.

Mr. Demakos, a registered Professional Engineer, received a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lafayette College, an MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A Buffalo native, Mr. Demakos demonstrates his commitment to the community. He currently serves on a variety of other boards such as Buffalo Renaissance Foundation, Amherst Police Foundation, Regional Traffic Alliance, and Kissing Bridge Corp.

Vincent G. Crehan began his career at NFT Metro as a bus operator in 1984. He was elected President/Business Agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 in 1996. He currently holds this same position as well as Chairman of the Niagara Frontier Transit Metro – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 Pension Fund.

Mr. Crehan is the lead representative for approximately 1000 Metro employees as well as employees of Coach USA - Erie Division and Grand Island Transit.

Mark D. Croce is the owner of the Buffalo Development Corporation. His career in real estate began when he first owned a deli in Amherst. However, since then his name, reputation, bars, and restaurants have all grown. His developments and establishments have brought a new appeal to Buffalo in general, but specifically to the Chippewa District.

Commissioner Croce owns The Chophouse, The Buckin’ Buffalo, and Laughlin’s Restaurant, to name a few of his restaurants and clubs, as well as parking lots, and is designing a new upscale hotel and restaurant.

In addition to his entrepreneurship, Commissioner Croce also serves as a Board Member of Buffalo Place and Vice President of the Buffalo Police Foundation. With his assistance, the foundation helps fun projects to support the safety and security of downtown Buffalo.

Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D., was appointed by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo June 14, 2012, to serve as a Commissioner on the Board of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Dr. Durand earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University at Buffalo in September 2002. Her area of concentration is Higher Education Administration with a focus on Institutional Advancement. Durand also holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Public Affairs from the University at Buffalo and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Curriculum Development from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2010, she received certification in educational management and leadership from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Professionally, she is the Chief of Staff to the President and Secretary to the College Council at Buffalo State (State University of New York College at Buffalo). She has held both of these positions for the past 16 years. She is a member of the Graduate Faculty at Buffalo State where she teaches core courses on the History of American Higher Education and Strategic Planning and Finance in Higher Education in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Department.

She serves on numerous boards and committees for Buffalo State, the State University of New York, and in the Western New York community. Some of her service includes membership on the Middle States Accreditation Steering Committee, the Presidential Inauguration Support Committee, the Facilities Master Planning Committee, and the Presidential Search Advisory Committee all at Buffalo State. She also served as a member of the State University of New York Group of 200 Strategic Planning Committee.

She was secretary for the City of Buffalo Citizens' Advisory Commission on Reapportionment in 2011, a member of the Mayor of the City of Buffalo's 2010 Complete Count Census Committee, a charter member of the Buffalo Niagara Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors and a member of the Western New York Women's Fund Board of Directors. She served both Mayor Byron Brown and County Executive Chris Collins during their transitions to office. In addition, she received the Bernice Poss Award in 2012, from the Western New York Women Leaders in Higher Education for her contributions as both an administrator and faculty member to the field of higher education.

She attends the First Shiloh Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York where she is a member of Board of Christian Education. In this position she provides leadership for the church's annual Baccalaureate Sunday Service. She also served the church as a member of the board of directors of the First Shiloh Youth Foundation. She is also a life time member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., an international public service organization. She has held numerous offices at the local and regional levels. Most of her activities in this role focus on training, advising and mentoring both alumnae and collegiate members of the organization throughout Upstate New York.

Commissioner Durand resides in Buffalo, New York with her husband, Dr. Henry J. Durand. The Drs. Durand have three surviving adult children and they enjoy spending much of their free time with their children and their spouses, their eight grandchildren and two great grandsons.

Her family and close friends will tell you she lives by the maxim that “to those to whom much is given, much is required.” She strives to live by these words daily.

Commissioner Gurney has been in the commercial real estate business on a fulltime basis for the past 25 years as a member of the real estate firm Gurney, Becker & Bourne, Inc., founded in 1864. As a partner in the firm and residing President since 2009, he specializes in the consulting, sale and leasing of office and residential site selection in the Western New York area.

Mr. Gurney is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, a worldwide professional real estate organization that has stringent requirements regarding transactions completed and mandatory education. He also serves as a member of the Greater Buffalo Board of Real Estate, the City of Buffalo Preservation Board and is a past member of the Business Office Managers Association.

A very active member of the community, Mr. Gurney serves the long-time director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a director of Compass House and in the past served as a director of the Saturn Club of Buffalo. He was the 2002 recipient of the N.Y.S.C.A.R.'s largest transaction in Western New York and in the same year also won the largest lease deal awarded by NASCOR. As a consultant and broker he does work for the Episcopal Diocese, Hospice of Western New York and Nichols School and in 2003 served as a consultant to the largest real estate sale in Buffalo, NY.

Mr. Gurney is a graduate of the University of Denver, with degrees in Economics and Political Science. He resides in the City of Buffalo with his wife and two children.

Mike is the Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations and Government Affairs at Kaleida Health, Western New York’s largest employer and largest provider of health care services.

Recruited to Kaleida Health in 2004, he is responsible for all of the hospital system’s external affairs including marketing, communications, media relations, government affairs, advertising, creative services and grants.

Prior to joining Kaleida Health, Mike served as the Public Affairs and Marketing Manager for Rural/Metro Medical Services, a national ambulance company. Hughes oversaw all media, government and community relations, marketing, and contract compliance in Western New York. He also served as the statewide public information officer for Rural/Metro’s nationally recognized “Disaster Response Team.”

Active in the community, he was appointed in 2008 to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), becoming the youngest Commissioner in the history of the authority.

Hughes currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Buffalo Police Athletic League, Waterfront Nursing Home, Bishop Timon/St. Jude High School and the West Seneca Zoning Board of Appeals. He also serves on the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Government Affairs Committee, Canisius College Government Relations Advisory Board and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Government Affairs Council. Mike also coaches ice hockey and soccer in West Seneca and Orchard Park.

In 2010, the Communication Studies Department at Canisius College named Hughes the “Marilyn G.S. Watt Alumni Award” winner, which is presented annually to a notable alumnus in public affairs and communications.

In 2005, Hughes was named a Business First “40 Under 40” award winner. He is also a graduate of Leadership Buffalo and the Buffalo FBI’s 2003 Citizen’s Academy. In addition to this, he has also won awards from International MarCom and the WNY Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Prior to joining Rural/Metro, Mike served as the Director of Communications for Erie County. In that role, he was the primary spokesman for New York State’s second largest county government and its highest elected official. With Erie County, Mike was elevated through numerous positions: from volunteer assistant in legislative branch, to executive public affairs assistant to his final senior communications role.

He is a graduate of Canisius College (bachelors in Communication) and earned a master’s of business administration certificate (micro-MBA) from the University of Buffalo.

Commissioner Perry is a partner in Hodgson Russ’s Business Litigation and Employment Litigation Practice Groups. His practice focuses on numerous areas in employment-related litigation such as employment discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and civil rights claims. He also handles other business litigation matters such as real estate, government relations, education law, municipal law, and nonprofit law.

In 2009, Mayor Byron W. Brown appointed Mr. Perry to Chair of the Citizens Planning Council of the City of Buffalo. In this position, he helps to determine the capital expenditures for the City of Buffalo each year.

Mr. Perry is very active in the community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New York Council for the Humanities, the Buffalo Urban League, and the Buffalo Police Foundation. In addition, he also serves as general counsel to a number of organizations including the Community Action Organization of Erie County and Sheehan Memorial Hospital. Moreover, Mr. Perry is the President of Mayor Brown’s Fund to Advance Buffalo and is Chair of the City of Buffalo Commissioner of Human Resources Selection Committee.

In 2004, he was the recipient of the Erie Community College Outstanding Alumnus Award. In addition, Mr. Perry has received the Erie Community College Foundation’s Distinguished Alumni Award (1996), and he also was named Business First’s “40 under Forty” Award (2000).

Commissioner Perry is a graduate of Erie Community College (associate of applied science) and the University of Buffalo (bachelors of arts). He earned his juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.

Commissioner Wilcox has worked for Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation for the past 23 years and acted as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 97 Business Representative for three years. In addition to serving as a Commissioner for the NFTA, Mr. Wilcox is WNY Chairman of Committee on Political Education.

An advocate for environmental conservation, Mr. Wilcox has spent two years as a spokesperson for the Clean Coal Project with NRG Energy and also serves as President and founder of the Niagara Greenspace Consortium (501c3), an organization focused on environmental/brownfield reuse in the Buffalo Niagara region, in accordance with the Niagara River Greenway Commission.

A United States Air Force veteran, Mr. Wilcox received an Air Force Commendation Medal for accomplishments stemming from his four-year service. He received his Associates degree in Applied Science and currently resides in North Tonawanda with his two daughters.