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Fox 5 is really sticking it to the taxpayer-funded Access-A-Ride system, exposing one NYPD Auxiliary Police sergeant's apparent abuse of the system, and busting a driver for flagrant on-the-job napping. The Access-A-Ride program, which is managed by NYC Transit, provides transportation for people with disabilities who can't take the subway or bus. Each trip ends up costing about $66 (most of which is covered by taxpayers) and this year the whole program is expected to cost $451 million—which makes this footage of a cop getting picked up by Access-A-Ride to go march in a parade even more galling!
Highlights (or lowlights) include the moment when Fox 5's John Deutzman confronts Sergeant Jeffery Lawin, after getting footage of him going up and down stairs, marching in the parade, and even taking the subway! Also not-to-be-missed is the part where Deutzman wakes up the driver they've been videotaping sleeping in an Access-A-Ride van for over an hour, and then the driver tries to deny it. (Eat your heart out Arnold Diaz!) The driver eventually leaves without a passenger after idling for almost 90 minutes, but hey, at least he wasn't parked in a bike lane that whole time.
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$66 a ride? Wouldn't it be cheaper to take a taxi or car service? There must be a way to arm the riders with special credit cards that they could use to pay a taxi or car service and get rid of this wasteful program.
$66 is the average cost of a trip which pays for gas, wages, nap time etc.
Riders pay the same amount as subway and bus riders.
I don't think he's talking about making riders pay more, but rather giving them prepaid cards and letting them decide what method of travel to use. At $66 a ride, you could go pretty far even in a taxi.
Yeah it would. They've been talking about hiring cabs instead of their fleet but the bus operators loose out, and Uncle Tony runs them.
I don't drive a care, but I've heard they're horrible drivers! cutting people off, wide-a** turns and basically violating all sorts of traffic laws.
Where are all the "faux news" comments?
There is a distinct difference between the local Channel 5 news and the Fox Opinion News Channel, to which I think the reference you mention is meant for.
I understand your confusion. My reference is for those who ignore that very nuance when the opportunity presents itself.
Just a technical question for the gothamist staff...why does the "strike" tag appear in the message preview but not on the final post?
That cop marching in the parade obviously had a limp and was walking with difficulty.
I'm envious of the guy sleeping on the job. I wish I could do that.
This isn't "faux news." This is misuse of taxpayer money. The NY Daily NEws supposedly ran a series of investigative reports in February.
Summarized here: http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0703/0703ft7.html
Access-A-Ride appears to use the worst (and I presume underpaid) drivers in the city. I think there's probably a contest between garbage truck drivers and Access-A-Ride drivers to see who can kill and injure more pedestrians each year.
These stories angers up the blood.
Anything anyone can do to shake up the Access-a-Ride system is welcome. Those drivers are the worst.
valeriob,
Local FOX news and FOX News National are two different entities. Just like FOX entertainment and FAUX News are separate.
Exactly. The point is whenever channel 5 or any Fox affiliate does something questionable, there are a thousand Internet comments blaming "Fox News."
fox is a brand like any other. affiliates are still beholden to the standards of the mothership.
Not exactly, since most of the affiliates news staffs have been in business for decades longer than Fox News Channel.
nonsense. it is obvious from your comment that your understanding of affiliation, branding, standardization, and programming is somewhat lacking.
There is no standardization. Fox 5 news is not branded "Fox News." The sets and graphics don't look anything alike. The target audiences are different. The only trickle down is on some of the national stories.
Another local money pit. Vouchers for cabs I say.
Oops, comment fail. It was a comment for the article itself.
this is a rare example of Fox News doing anything worthwhile. good job fuckers!
More reason to get rid of federally mandated crap and let cities design and manage their own programs. As someone else noted, it would be far more efficient to simply issue special credit cards to people who can still walk for use in normal taxis and livery cabs. If someone is in a wheelchair or needs specialized assistance, have a smaller fleet available only to those carefully vetted people and require drivers to earn at least an AA degree in nursing (or whatever) to help keep lazy douchebags from getting hired.
Let's assume for a second that the taxpayers really should be paying for this type of transportation, that it is completely impossible for these patients to get to their medically necessary medical appointments.
If that is the case, there are dozens of cheaper ways to get people transportation then these expensive fleets of vehicles (who purchased them?) manned by less than professional drivers. This huge budget is better spent for real care for the patients, not private chauffeur service. This is another reason the MTA needs to be put under the microscope, and needs to stop wasting our money!
Problem is you can't convince advocates for those who actually NEED the service to accept any sort of revisions to the program because they'll fear that once the program is cracked open for revision, their needs will be inevitably hacked into. Sadly, they're probably right. Patterson, Bloomberg, etc. are all looking for fat to trim and programs like this are only immune because of the federal red tape involved.
Note to self, if ever approached by investigative type journalist people, just keep saying "no comment" and nothing else. Don't push the camera away and shit like that. Makes you look guilty.
Not only is it extraordinarily expensive, from what I hear the service is horrid, often leaving people stranded for hours.
If anyone would like to read up on what is going on with para-transit both in NYC and in the country, they should check out http://www.emilyfkeller.com/
It is a cornucopia of esoteric knowledge on a subject that has been constantly mishandled by the city.
Nothing really, I just felt like replying to shit today.
You're fired, asshole!
He's not a cop. He's an auxilary, an unpaid volunteer.
The question is how much of the 451 million is _not_ abuse of the system.
Pretty suspicious that the news knew exactly where this aux cop would get picked up on the specific day he was attending a parade
I've often thought that the drivers themselves are in some kind of rehabilitation program (community service? parole?) They drive like absolute maniacs.
Let's pay more in taxes to create more jobs!
There's always waste in these programs. I'm surprised avg cost is only $66 per ride.
Did anyone else notice the Access-A-Ride bus go by the reporter and the fake cop when they were crossing the street? Kinda funny.
I liked Channel 5 better when it was DuMont.
Nah, it was best when it was Metromedia.
seems fucked up, that parade cop is AUX, volunteer,
and it looks like he has a FAKE leg, if he QUALIFIES to use the service no harm no foul.
the guy sleeping not sleepin on the job.
its not like a TAXI service, if hes waiting for the next trip or on a lunch break, then fall asleep my man! sleep well...just drive awake.
thats some creepy stalking and actually very improper to imply that if he can walk in a parade or walk up steps then he shouldnt use access a ride. classic blame the little guy, run it as a non profit and then blame the big guy taking a huge profit for running these vans. im sure the average rider and low paid driver is not whats eating up all the $$$.
the car was idling for one hour? wth?
These vans are a horror show for the disabled people who must ride them. The rides need to be booked far in advance and are run like jitneys, so that the ride is not necessarily direct and can take hours. A friend of mine who needed to use a wheel chair was often left waiting outside for up to an hour in all kinds of weather waiting for the van. I've also seen the vans pass by a rider because the driver could not find the address--in this case I chased the van and driver down the block to tell him he'd gone right by his passenger. If more cabs were wheelchair- or leg-brace friendly, it would be a mercy to let physically disabled people have access to them.
I'll again ask other Gothamist readers to engage in, as I have done, an informal, unscientific study of Access-A-Ride vehicles on the streets of NYC. When out and about in NYC and you see an Access-A-Ride van, check out how many passengers are in the vehicle. In my nearly year-long informal survey, I have rarely seen more than 2 passengers in the vehicle. Often it is only 1 passenger - even more often the vehicle has no passengers.
I understand that the vehicle may be returning to its base location, or at certain hours, Access-A-Ridership would normally be low. But observe these vehicles at all hours, as I do, and see, if like me, you rarely see more than 2 passengers.
My unscientific conclusion: there are far more Access-A-Ride vehicles plying the streets of NYC than is necessary.
If the Access-A-Ride system was created in response to the lack of access in the subway system, why are the people taken door-to-door? Shouldn't the vans just run along the subway routes?
Has anyone ever seen a passenger in one of those vans?
Yes, the Volunteer Auxiliary Police Sergeant is not a NYPD Sergeant. We have to be clear about that.
Yes, he is allowed to use Access-a-ride, has a card to ride Access-a-ride. He had to have a doctor's note to get the card.
Yes, he paid the full fair just like everyone else.
No, he did not carry the banner the whole parade. You only get to see part of the parade.
Yes, he was in pain after walking but he did it proudly.
Did the reporter give he a chance to answer his questions off camera and protect his privacy? No,
Instead the reporter ambushed him.
So why pick him out?
Why follow Him???
Maybe because he questioned to APBA president why he could not see the books.
At the time he was the First Vice President and thought he should be able to see the books.
Now, Mr. Hyland, the President of the APBA is under investigation by the NYPD Internal affairs & by the New York State Office of the Attorney General.
Now who call the reporter and gave him the tip to follow Mr. Lawin?
Humm!
Touche!