Michael Horodniceanu

Dr. Michael Horodniceanu passed away on June 22, 2023 of pancreatic cancer. . Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1944, Michael emigrated to Israel as a teenager where he studied at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and where he met his wife of 54+ years, Bat-Sheva Horodniceanu. They moved to New York City in 1970 and settled in Forest Hills, Queens. 

Michael is survived by Bat-Sheva and two sons Oded (wife Kate Orff Horodniceanu, Adi and Matias) of Forest Hills, NY and Eran (wife Erica Goldberg Horodniceau, Emma and Elana) of North Potomac, MD. 

Dr. Horodniceanu earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology; an M.S. in Engineering Management from Columbia University; and a PhD in Transportation Planning and Engineering from NYU Tandon, then known as Brooklyn Polytechnic. He joined the urban engineering and transportation company Urbitran in 1973 where he later became the Chair and CEO of the company. He later served as the New York City Traffic Commissioner in the Administration of Mayor Ed Koch from 1986-1990. In 2008, he joined the MTA as President of Capital Construction.  During his term (2008-2017) as President, he oversaw billions of dollars of “mega-projects” and transportation initiatives including the Second Avenue Subway, Fulton Transit Center, East Side Access and the No. 7 subway line extension that unlocked Manhattan’s West Side redevelopment. More recently, Michael was a Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and the Inaugural Chair of the IDC Innovation Hub. 

Michael had an irresistible excitement about all things urban, engineering and transportation related. He was larger than life with a colorful personality and colorful bowties to match. During the construction of the East Side Access project, he gave legendary tours of its massive, sculptural subterranean caverns to the city and state's top brass and also to second graders. When Michael was being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, he chatted with the nurses about the Second Avenue Subway project and asked for a show of hands for who rides it to work - most of the nurses raised their hands and said “thank you.”  

A funeral service for Michael will be held Friday, June 23, 2023 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM at Schwartz Brothers-Jeffer Memorial Chapels, 114-03 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills, NY 11375. Following the funeral service will be a committal service from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM at Mount Hebron Cemetery, 130-04 Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing, NY 11367.

There will be a link for a live stream of the service available on the website for the funeral home for those unable to attend and wanting to partake in the service remotely.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

https://secure.pancan.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2681&mfc_pref=T&2681.donation=form1

The Family will be sitting Shiva at:

110-12 69th Avenue, Forest Hills, NY 11375.

Friday - 23rd after the cemetery until 6pm

Sunday - 25th from 12-4pm

Monday to Wednesday - 26, 27 and 28th from 12-2pm and 5-8pm

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sbjmemorialchapel.com for the Horodniceanu family.