That multi-tasking Metro-North engineer who got caught on cellphone camera reading a local tabloid while simultaneously operating the train has resigned. NBC New York reports that the still-unidentified engineer had worked for the MTA since 1988, and had been an engineer since 2001. He had been suspended pending an investigation after this video surfaced, showing him absorbed in the NY Post while operating the Grand Central-bound train earlier this month. After the incident made news, other engineers started taping ads over the windows to their cabs, to thwart nosy passengers.
"He only looked up when the bells went off," Bingham told NBC New York, referring to the signal sounds when the train approaches a station. "That made me nervous. What if one of the bells didn't go off and something happened with the train?" But what if he's paying attention to the bells and misses an important article about Jennifer Aniston returning from vacation with a diamond ring?!
