A notorious serial transit thief who has spent decades impersonating employees while taking subways and buses for joyrides will be committed to a lock-down facility after a Brooklyn judge deemed him to be dangerously mentally ill Friday. Darius McCollum has become New York City’s notorious transit thief after having been arrested 30 times for stealing buses and trains in the Big Apple since he was 15. McCollum, who is in his 50s and on the autism spectrum, has been obsessed with mass transit since he was a child. He was last arrested in 2015 for stealing an empty Greyhound bus and subsequently charged with criminal impersonation and grand larceny in his most recent arrest. Top Tri-State News Photos AP Though he has never hurt anyone or caused damage, McCollum faced a possible life prison term because he was a repeat offender. In January, right before the start of his trial, McCollum pleaded not guilty by reason of a mental disease or defect. He was ordered to Kirby … [Read more...] about Judge Rules Notorious NYC Transit Thief Dangerously Mentally Ill, to Be Committed to Lock-Down Facility
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MTA Leaders Condemn Attacks on Transit Workers After Shocking Video of Assault on Subway Conductor Goes Viral
Transit leaders are speaking out against assaults on subway conductors, bus operators and other workers after a recent video showing a shocking attack on a conductor in Brooklyn over the weekend grabbed the attention of MTA authorities. "It was disgusting and appalling," said Andy Byford, the new president of NYC Transit. "We are not gonna tolerate this depressing tsunami of assaults on our staff." Byford stood with transit union leaders Tuesday as they held up a wanted poster of those suspected for several other assaults that have happened in the months before Saturday's early morning attack. In that incident, a conductor had just announced the A train at Grant Avenue would be running express, skipping the stops riders had been waiting for. Angry riders descended on a conductor through an open window, shouting and then punching him, video shows. 3 NYC Hospitals Land Among 20 Best in America, Report Says Tony Utano of TWU Local 100 says he plans to post the … [Read more...] about MTA Leaders Condemn Attacks on Transit Workers After Shocking Video of Assault on Subway Conductor Goes Viral
Cuomo Insists NYC Should Pay Half of Ambitious $37B Subway Fix Plan
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday New York City should pay half of NYC Transit President Andy Byford’s ambitious plan to fix the subways. The MTA has yet to officially name a price tag for the massive transportation overhaul introduced in May, but it hasn’t disputed estimates in the $37 billion range. New York City's delay-ridden subway system would undergo a massive overhaul in a fraction of the time originally estimated for it, with new signaling and new subway cars along with a new fare payment system, according to the “Fast Forward” proposal introduced in late May by Byford. The MTA is NYC Transit's parent agency and would have to decide whether or not it goes forward. 10 Most Shocking Stories From NY Rideshare Drivers Revealed Pexels/CC After Byford said Tuesday that he’d asked the mayor to help pay for it, Cuomo reiterated Thursday his often-disputed claim that the city owns the subways and is legally obligated to pay. He said that 50-50 is … [Read more...] about Cuomo Insists NYC Should Pay Half of Ambitious $37B Subway Fix Plan
NYC transit pushing to fire bus driver who told boss he ‘would oil her down’
A Bronx bus driver and former union big who told a supervisor he wanted to “oil her down” can’t slip away from a sexual harassment case she lodged against him. In a blistering opinion issued Tuesday, an appellate court threw out an arbitrator’s decision that let bus driver and union official Tony Aiken avoid a firing because his lewd remarks did not “rise to the level” of sexual harassment. Judge Sallie Manzanet-Daniels, who wrote the decision for the five-judge panel, lambasted the arbitrator decision as “irrational” and for taking a “’blame the victim’ mentality” that “belies the realities of workplace sexual harassment.” The arbitrator’s decision, Manzanet-Daniels wrote, “emboldens future harassers to engage in pernicious misconduct, knowing that they are likely to receive little more than a slap on the wrist as punishment.” Senate hopeful Mayer again called out for harass … [Read more...] about NYC transit pushing to fire bus driver who told boss he ‘would oil her down’
NYC Transit skipped maintenance visits, delayed ‘trouble calls’ for its security cameras, audit reveals
NYC Transit can’t keep a close eye on its security cameras. An audit of the transit authority’s security cameras found that regular checkups were lacking, while there were “trouble calls” for security equipment that took too long to address, according to state Controller Tom DiNapoli. “The MTA has not always performed preventive maintenance or repairs on a timely basis,” DiNapoli’s audit, covering January 2014 through July 29, 2017, said. The audit looked at records for 223 cameras at 10 stations, finding one-third of preventive maintenance visits, 1,328, were never made. At those stations, the auditors also found that only 215 of the 330 scheduled visits were made to check up digital video recorders connected to those cameras. For “trouble calls” about video system equipment, 26% of the 9,223 notices to transit’s Electronic Maintenance Division were addressed but took longer than the three-day target window. … [Read more...] about NYC Transit skipped maintenance visits, delayed ‘trouble calls’ for its security cameras, audit reveals