The supervisor on duty for the group of men at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station when track worker Marvin Franklin was killed by a G train has been demoted to the position of cleaner, in lieu of being fired. Investigators found that superintendent Lloyd London was the individual most culpable for the death of 55-year-old trackwork veteran Franklin, after he told two workers that he would stand as a lookout at the end of the station, but failed to do so. He also failed to instruct Franklin and Jeff Hill not to carry a heavy piece of equipment across a series of active tracks.
London denies that he ever told Franklin and Hill that he would act as a lookout and signal oncoming trains that workers were on the tracks, but his testimony was contradicted by others. The New York Times reports that London was a track worker himself for several years before receiving training as a superintendant. He held that job for less than a year when Franklin was killed. The New York City Transit board of inquiry barred London from ever holding a supervisory position again, nor can he hold a safety-sensitive position or operate a train. London accepted the demotion to cleaner rather than be fired.
Marvin Franklin was killed in April in the second of two fatal accidents for trackworkers in five days. The NYC Transit veteran was an accomplished and award-winning artist who carried his sketchbook with him on the job and frequently drew the subway system's homeless population.
(The Red Flag, by NYCviaRachel at flickr)
