There's a new person in charge of the Great New York State Fair. Dan O'Hara will be leaving. Replacing him is Thomas Ryan, who is currently serves as Chief of Staff of the New York State Thruway and the Canal Corporation. Iris St. Meran has more.

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NEW YORK -- At this point, it's unclear the reason for the change of leadership on the fairgrounds.

Director Dan O'Hara has been in his role for six years. There were a number of changes under his leadership during his tenure, including tickets. O'Hara, in an effort to make the fair more accountable, stopped free tickets from being handed out. The attendance numbers went down, but the number of paid tickets did go up.

There were some complaints this past summer about the grand stand lineup. There weren't as many acts. But he also got rid of smoking and tried to make the fair more affordable for families.

New director Tom Ryan will have a special advisor, one many in the area will be familiar with. Former Syracuse mayor and one time state fair director Tom Young will be special advisor.

We do have calls out to Dan O'Hara to get more insight from him, but we're still waiting to hear back.