Second Bus Dispatcher Caught In Sick Time Fraud
Well the form reversal did not last long as Staten Island is once again being seen in a bad light in the world of mass transit. The calling out sick controversy continues to hang over the borough’s head as a second bus dispatcher has been caught calling in sick while actually being out of state. Pete Donohue & Jill Colvin of the New York Daily News have more in this report:
Staten Island is turning into Sickout Island.
Another bus dispatcher from Staten Island has been caught calling in sick from a vacation spot – this time Puerto Rico, transit officials confirmed.
Bus dispatcher James Padilla was in the sunny Caribbean – about 1,600 miles away from his Staten Island depot – when he phoned to say he was too ill for duty on Thursday, April 1, and Friday, April 2, MTA officials said.
His scheduled vacation began the following Monday, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Padilla is the latest Staten Island bus driver accused of abusing sick and family leave time, forcing the authority to staff jobs with overtime and draining millions in much-needed revenue.
Last week, the Daily News reported that another Staten Island dispatcher, Giovanni Bonanno, 62, abruptly retired after bosses accused him of calling in sick last month from Florida.
The News has also reported that 21% of bus division workers at the Castleton depot on Staten Island took sick or leave time as a major storm approached Feb. 9.
“Most of our employees are unsung heroes, like the Staten Island bus operator who pulled a man from a burning car this week,” MTA Chairman Jay Walder said Friday. “The only way to protect them and taxpayers is to go after the people who abuse the system.”
Padilla, 41, couldn’t be reached for comment, but the agency said he conceded he was neither ill nor at home on the two days in question.
Click here for the complete report.
This issue is clearly getting out of hand. I am starting to wonder how long this abuse has been going on & why is it only be caught now? The fact that two people were caught doing this makes me think this is a loophole that has been exploited many times before. Hopefully the MTA cracks down on this so we do not continue to read report after report about this fraud.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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NYC Transit To Begin AA Study Of Staten Island
Earlier today, MTA New York City Transit announced it will be beginning an “Alternatives Analysis ” study on how to improve public transportation options on the North Shore of Staten Island. Here are the complete details courtesy of a press release they sent me:
MTA New York City Transit is beginning an Alternatives Analysis (AA) Study which will look at improving transit service on the North Shore of Staten Island. The first Open House will be held on Thursday, April 22nd from 7:15 PM to 9:00 PM at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center to discuss the re-use of the former Staten Island Railway North Shore Branch. The public is invited to come and comment on potential alternatives to be considered, the goals and objectives of the study and other concerns.
Passenger rail service on the Staten Island North Shore Branch ended in 1953. Freight service ended in 1989. The right-of-way has remained largely untouched since then. This study will examine and evaluate potential modes of travel, including: heavy rail, such as the SIR; light rail, such as Hudson-Bergen Light Rail; and Bus Rapid Transit service, among others.
The process will begin with the identification of a list of alternatives which will be narrowed down through a series of increasingly detailed analyses (costs, impacts, potential ridership). The study is expected to last approximately 12-14 months. The final result of this study will be an Alternatives Analysis report which will recommend a locally preferred alternative for further development.
This is some good news for a borough long neglected in terms of quality transportation options. I hope many residents help participate in this study as it is for their own good.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Bus Driver Saves Man From Burning SUV
MTA Bus Driver Andrew Camputaro. Photo courtesy of Monaster/New YorK Daily News.
It is safe to say that the last 7-10 days in the world of mass transit has not been kind to Staten Island. If it was not a story coming out about a high percentage of drivers calling out sick prior to a big winter storm, it was a story about a bus dispatcher doing so for 10 straight days while in Florida. However the tide has shifted a bit as a positive story has come out from the borough.
This past Thursday, MTA Bus Driver Andrew Camputaro earned the title of hero after saving a man from his burning SUV. Pete Donohue had more in this brief report:
A Staten Island bus driver was hailed a hero Thursday for helping a man escape from an SUV that burst into flames after a crash.
The SUV’s engine was engulfed in flames when NYC Transit driver Andrew Camputaro, 35, helped the man exit through a window Wednesday evening, Camputaro recalled Thursday.
“He was trying to figure out how to get out,” Camputaro said, adding the SUV was full of thick, black smoke.
Camputaro, a father of twin 3-year-old girls, said he first checked the back of the SUV for children before pulling the man to safety.
Click here for the complete report.
I would like to salute Mr. Andrew Camputaro for his heroic efforts. The next time people want to cast a negative opinion of the blue collar workforce of the MTA, they should remember stories like this that prove they are not the horrible people some make them out to be!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Bay Shore Work Affects Montauk Branch
This past October, service on the Montauk branch was affected for a weekend due to work in the Bay Shore area. The work involved soil remediation work by the National Grid. When the press release was sent out, it was noted that the second phase of the project would take place in April 2010.
Just a short time ago, the MTA Long Island Rail Road announced that this weekend will mark the second phase of the project being completed. Here are the complete details courtesy of the press release I received:
MTA Long Island Rail Road train service between Babylon and Speonk will be suspended for the weekend of April 24 and 25 so LIRR workers can restore a stretch of track replaced last year to allow National Grid to conduct an environmental cleanup of the area under the track just west of Bay Shore Station. The service suspension will begin on Saturday, April 24 at 12:59 AM and run until 1:30 AM on Monday, April 26.
Eastbound:
Customers will board buses at Babylon for stations Bay Shore through Speonk. Customers for stations Speonk through Montauk will be bused directly to Speonk where they will connect with train service for the remainder of their trip. Approximately 2,000 eastbound customers will be affected each day, experiencing up to 50 minutes in additional travel time.
Westbound:
Montauk to Westhampton customers will board trains to Speonk where they will transfer to Babylon bound buses. At Babylon, they will connect with train service to all points west. Approximately 2,100 westbound customers will be affected each day, experiencing up to 39 minutes in additional travel time.
Last October, LIRR forces temporarily relocated approximately 1,000 feet of each of the two main tracks along with LIRR communication cables and poles to an area about 60 feet north of their former location.
The National Grid work included removal of soil contaminated by a manufactured gas plant operation that had previously been located in the area. National Grid is paying for the track relocation and soil remediation work. The project is being carried out with the approval of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Senator Kruger Faces Primary Opposition
Igor Oberman, the man opposing Sen. Kruger in the State Senate 27th District Democratic Primary. Photo courtesy of Mr. Oberman’s campaign website.
For those following transit news for some time, the name Senator Carl Kruger rings an ominous bell. He was part of the group dubbed the “Fare Hike Four” as they notoriously helped create yet another stop-gap solution to the MTA’s funding woes last year.
Mr. Kruger’s name has made headlines again as for the first time in ages, he is facing opposition in the Democratic Primary for the State Senate 27th District. Harold Egeln of The Brooklyn Eagle has more in this report:
A Brighton Beach attorney whose family fled the former Soviet Union in 1981 when he was eight is getting ready to make state Sen. Carl Kruger, in office for 16 years, flee Albany via the ballot box.
“Current politicians have done us severe harm,” charged Igor Oberman on the Friends of Oberman campaign web site with the banner “New Leadership for Our Community.” “They care more about power and special interests than their constituents. But now we have an opportunity to change that.”
Calling himself “a true Democrat,” Oberman is now in the race, his first political foray, for the 27th state Senate district, aiming to unseat Kruger, who calls himself “an independent Democrat.” Oberman cites Kruger’s siding with Republicans in Albany on several issues.
“It’s time for a new choice and a new voice that will represent south Brooklyn with a drive to make a difference for our future,” Oberman declared, citing his community experience. “I’ve gained a grassroots understanding of issues facing ordinary New Yorkers.”
The candidate faces off with Kruger in the Democratic Party primary election on Sept. 14. Kruger went unchallenged in the last few elections.
The district has the largest concentration of Russian-Americans in the city. Oberman’s family fled Russia in 1981 when he was eight. The district that has been his home for three decades covers Bergen Beach, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Midwood, Mill Basin, Flatbush, Flatlands and Sheepshead Bay.
Oberman, 37, is a personal injury lawyer and an administrative law judge for the Environmental Control Board. Before that, he served as the first Russian-American administrative law judge for the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School, Brooklyn College in 1994 and New York Law School in 1997, and is married to Tanya Oberman, an accountant.
Click here for the complete report.
I would like to find out more about Mr. Oberman before I can offer an opinion on his candidacy. I am extremely interested in his public transportation views as well as his ideas to help solve the MTA’s funding woes in Albany. I will keep an eye out on Mr. Oberman as we get closer to the primary later this year.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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