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The MTA is investigating an allegation that a young boy, approximately 8 or 9 years old, was allowed into the train operator's compartment for a little driving tutorial. On Sunday, Jules Cattie, a 41-year-old lawyer, was in the first car of an uptown Lexington Avenue express train when he witnessed "the craziest thing I've ever seen." First he heard the female train operator talking to someone, saying "It's green, speed up...Yellow, slow down." He assumed she was teaching a new MTA worker, but then he saw a child emerge from the compartment.
Cattie tells the Daily News the kid appeared to announce, "We're being held because of train traffic," then he returned inside the compartment. When Cattie peered through the glass, he observed the li'l subway prodigy standing with the MTA operator behind him. (The News has his photo.) NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges promises "a vigorous and thorough investigation" and explained that "the rule is quite clear: train operators are not allowed to have anyone else with them. It's a hard-and-fast rule." But this isn't the first time amateurs have been behind the MTA controls: Earlier this month a Long Island Rail Road passenger was allegedly allowed to drive the 6:45 a.m. westbound train from Port Jefferson between Hicksville.
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I've always wondered how much driving these guys actually do. It seems mostly computer-controlled. Or perhaps that is more the case for some lines, i.e. the L, than others?
Virtually all trains are driven manually by train operators.
Only the L runs computer-controlled trains during certain hours of the day.
I think the better question is how many trains are idiot controlled. The answer would not surprise you.
Computer controlled in NYC -- are you kidding? Only the L line, on an experimental basis.
Gothamist editors -- I think you mean first car, not fist car . . .
This idiot needs to be fired immediately.
how much overtime did the kid pull down?
The pic in Gothamist article drastically differs from the real pic in the News article.
And I bet the kid did a good job driving the train, better than his mom. And it probably was "bring your child to work" day.
this way mom can text w/ both hands
hahaha!
I speak from experience, driving a train is harder than it seems. The whole thing with breaking at stations is the tough thing, but you get the hang of it after awhile.
FUCKING DUMB SHITS. DID NO ONE LEARN FROM THE RECENT ACCIDENT IN D.C.??? FIRE THEIR STUPID ASS AT ONCE.
I bet you could understand the kid better too. thisismetropolitannextstopgreepointstandclearoftheclosingdoorsdonotholdthedoors!
Oh lighten up, killjoy. The subway operators are about the only responsible hard working employees of the MTA.
Not this one.
Has this been going on a lot?
That would explain a lot of the shitty driving I've seen recently.
Killjoy?? What about Kill People. If this stupid bitch (or bastard) wants to let their kid drive their Caprice around a parking lot..so be it. But when you have hundereds of peoples lives on the line in a train...better think twice.
I read this and I am overwhelmed. Not with anger, but with extreme envy. If I were 8, driving a train would be about the coolest thing I could possibly imagine.
Where are all the commenters who were writing, "Hey, let kids have some fun" during the last story like this?
Come on, JDS, its not libel if I call him a cock muncher.
I was riding on the 6 on Sunday and saw this kid. He opened the conductors door to the train and shouted "there will be no 5 train service for the next two weeks" then slammed the door. We just assumed the conductor couldn't find someone to watch her kid so she brought him with her.
I just saw the photo on the Daily News website... I know that kid. He's actually not a kid, but a 48 year old adult with Williams Syndrome. He spent the last 24 years with the MTA, promoted twice from train conductor to senior trand conductor to conductor supervisor. He usually performs random tests on train conductors under-cover in regular clothes (he wears the MTA uniform at the office). What a silly misunderstanding.
whatchu talkin bout wtttt?
Then... what's he doing in the front of the train? And while a conductor isn't trained specifically on train operation, at least he should have a grasp of the "green speed up, yellow slow down" thing already.
This must make it tough to do the job: "Individuals with Williams syndrome have problems with visual processing, but this is related to difficulty in dealing with complex spatial relationships rather than to issues with depth perception."
spoiler alert:
Somebody's been watching too much Orphan.
Alot of the operators are jackasses, a fact proven when they accidentally leave their mic on and you could hear them explicitly chatting about last night (I seriously witnessed this). I'm assuming this was the same deal in this incident.
I've seen a conductor get on the A train at 207th Street and bring her kid in the conductor's booth with her. Of course, this same conductor took her sweet ol' time getting into the car after the bell went off indicating the train was to leave. So, the train left behind schedule and with a conductor and her kid in the car.
Its worse when its 8 AM, and the conductor is nowhere to be found, and by union rules they can't substitute him for being a no show until 20 minutes after departure time, so the train just sat there with the dispatch bell being rung in vain.
it's all fun and games until everyone accidentally ends up in Jersey.
...or Queens. Just as terrifying.
When I was waiting for the 7 at 45th Rd-Courthouse Sq on Sunday there was a little kid in the compartment of the cab with the driver... I didn't assume he was actually controlling it, though (hopefully). Is it against regulations for someone to be in there, period? I bet it made the kid's day.
"the rule is quite clear: train operators are not allowed to have anyone else with them. It's a hard-and-fast rule."
MTA doesn't enforce that on itself or anyone else.
If your extended family, bf/gf, or ANY thing with an MTA ID card, you get to ride in the front cab.
And, the fact that an 8 year old can run a train indicates that NYCTA/MTA/LIRR employees are way overpaid in relation to their skills. Bust the unions, and let's get reasonable. Besides, my 12 year-olds need summer jobs.
One of the following is true (or both):
1. This woman made a huge mistake, endangering thousands of lives and should likely go to jail, not to mentioned fired, have pensions removed, etc.
2. If a kid can do this job, and it takes little (if any) effort, then all of these conductors should be fired, and we can simply pay children $5 in candy per day to do their jobs. The TWU just lost a huge bargaining chip.
Sorry, I didn't read your post earlier. My sentiments exactly.
Was the announcement legible?
and nobody likes a tattle tale Jules.
Absolutely unacceptable. Should be fired immediately and brought up on charges. If the argument in their defense is that operators do little to nothing, why even have them there or keep them on the payroll in the first place? And if they do do something, then having anyone other than a qualified operator in the box is to introduce a distraction that risks the lives and well-being of hundreds of people.