The Post has caught another MTA station-booth clerk catching some ill-timed zzz's. They snapped a photo of the unidentified worker sleeping at the 18th Avenue F train stop in Brooklyn at 4 a.m. Wednesday. The worker is now under investigation as a result, and an MTA spokeswoman said, "It goes without saying that such behavior will not be tolerated by MTA New York City Transit and it is deeply disturbing to us." But here's what we're wondering: why does the Post get off so much on catching MTA workers sleeping?
Post Continues Its Crusade To Get Sleeping MTA Workers Fired
JFK Security Guards Fired for Sleeping on the Job
At least nine private security guards have been fired by a Port Authority contractor for sawing wood when they were supposed to be patrolling the airport. The guards were union employees for Covenant Aviation Security, and were paid $16.99 an hour to patrol tarmacs, inspect vehicles, etc. Evening supervisor Ronald Denig and at least one other boss snapped photos of the dozing guards, who have filed a grievance with the union. The Post, in an exclusive report that features a classic photo of Denig looking the part, says that Denig also had his photo taken while napping, but he got to keep his job.
Transit Workers Caught Sleeping On The Job By The Post
Of all the people to catch you sleeping while you're supposed to be on the job, a photographer for the NY Post is probably one of the worst ones, since your sleepyhead mug could be plastered on the cover of newspapers. That's what the Post did to Frank Ryan today, a subway maintainer who, along with coworker Robert Malandrino, the Post claims "should have been working on broken station equipment." (FWIW, the Daily News busted a sleeping token booth clerk in 2005.)
Sleepy George Washington Bridge Guards Fired
After a bicyclist caught two George Washington Bridge guards sleeping on the job multiple times—and sent the pictures to Cliffview Pilot which published them yesterday—the Port Authority announced the two men were fired, "The two guards have been fired by the security contractor, FJC Security. The Port Authority takes the safety of its passengers and facilities very serious and has spent more than $4 billion dollars on security since 9/11. The Port Authority welcomes the public's vigilance on matters of safety and security and we encourage our customers to contact us if they encounter anything out of the ordinary." Another bicyclist told the Daily News, "Normally, they are not sleeping. But I guess you should be attentive at this job, especially after 9/11."
Bicyclist Sees GW Bridge Guard Sleeping On Job
This morning, a man bicycling on the George Washington Bridge took photographs of a guard sleeping in the west guard booth on the NJ side. According to Cliffview Pilot, taking the photographs was easy for Joey Lepore, who said, "I didn't even zoom it. I walked right up to the window... I saw him nodded out on my way over to the city and then again on my way back. Enough is enough!" And apparently this isn't the first time Lepore, who owns and operates Bicycle Tour New York, has seen a guard sleeping—he once said to one, "Please just stay awake. I'm not asking too much," and has photographs of a sleeping guard (possibly the same one as today) from August 5. MyFoxNY points out, "Officials have said that bridges and tunnels remain a prime target for terrorists. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Port Authority restricted photography on and on the bridge for security reasons (the rules have since been relaxed). In 2005 and 2006, the agency installed cylindrical bomb shields the section of the bridge's suspension cables closest to the deck." The Port Authority told Cliffview Pilot it was looking into the matter.
State Workers, Who Created 'Man Cave' At Work, Got Overtime
It takes a lot of work to build the ultimate man cave, especially one housed off a parking garage at Albany's State Capitol by employees of NY State's Office of Government Services. There's upkeep on your card pyramids and the frequent updates to the message on your Lite Brite... it's no wonder that the two state employees who were busted last week for their drug den of board games and pot scales needed so much time to work on their lair that they've racked up a combined $28,400 in overtime over the last five years.
Capitol Employees Caught Using 'Man Cave' For Drug Spelunking
Howe Caverns may no longer hold the title as top spot for cavernous upstate recreation. That's because yesterday it was revealed that while state senators spent a good portion of the last couple of months showing up for work and bickering about legal semantics over a quagmire they themselves had created, a state janitor and his supervisor have been arriving at their Capitol jobs every day and wasting time in style. Louis Marciano and Gary Pivoda of the State Office of General Services have been busted for taking their workspace inside a Capitol garage and turned it into a drug-dealing "man cave."

