14 FEBRUARY 22, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Local offi cials call for removal of freight company
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A lawsuit filed by former employees
of New York & Atlantic
Railway (NYAR) accusing the
Glendale-based operator and its parent
company, Anacostia Rail Holdings
Company, of widespread mistreatment
and discrimination has led to calls for
radical change.
As reported by The New York Times,
the 18 workers who fi led the lawsuit
on Feb. 14 are of Mexican, Ecuadorian
and Dominican origin. The workers
said they routinely worked 12- to
14-hour shift s and were asked to right
derailed trains, maintain switches
and cut railroad ties while being paid
much less than other employees and
not provided with the proper safety
equipment and training.
The lawsuit alleges that NYAR violated
the New York City Human Rights
Law, New York state labor laws and
the Federal Employers Liability Act,
while also claiming that the company
impeded a train crash investigation
by keeping the workers away from
federal inspectors.
On Feb. 21, a joint letter sent from
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan,
Assemblyman Mike Miller and state
Senator Joe Addabbo to MTA Chairman
Joseph Lhota called upon the
agency to terminate its agreement
with NYAR if these allegations are
proven true. They cited a history of
New York & Atlantic leases nearly
270 miles of Long Island Rail Road
track and related facilities from the
MTA to transport construction materials,
food, waste and other items.
“Along with ongoing questions regarding
safety, including not adhering
to railroad crossing regulations and
crew fi tness, we must again state that we
are opposed to the continued operation
of the freight operation by this entity,”
the letter states. “The MTA and LIRR
must perform a full review of the continued
relationship with NYAR in light
of these allegations as well as the safety
issues raised by our local community.”
The elected offi cials made reference
to their disapproval of the renewal of
NYAR’s contract with the MTA to begin
with. A 2015 incident in Maspeth
in which an NYAR freight collided
with a truck is the main source of their
opposition. That incident prompted a
Federal Railroad Administration safety
review that revealed several areas
On Oct. 5, 2016, Miller wrote a letter
to then-MTA Chairman Thomas F.
Prendergast stating, “There is no justifi
cation for NYAR to be awarded a new
contract as they are a danger to their
employees, the LIRR infrastructure
and the communities in which they
operate.”
Still, the original 20-year agreement
between NYAR and the MTA that started
in 1997 was renewed for another 10
years as of 2017.
There has also been a long history
of complaints about NYAR’s garbage
fi lled cars, environmental impact
of train engines, and several reported
incidents of warning signal malfunctions,
with one as recent as Feb. 15.
Mary Parisen, the chair of Civics
United for Railroad Environmental
Solutions (CURES), has been advocating
for years alongside the politicians
calling for reform. She pointed out
that since NYAR is using the MTA
and LIRR’s assets, it is being heavily
“We knew from the FRA Focused
Safety Review on the July 8, 2015,
Maspeth crash that the New York
& Atlantic Railway was violating
the Transfer Agreement and laws,
and cutting corners on personnel,
training and safety,” Parisen said in a
statement. “But this New York Times
story shows a previously unimagined
depth of unsafe and inhumane
operations involving non-union
labor working with state assets all
over Long Island. MTA-LIRR should
never have renewed the Transfer
Agreement with NYAR. Governor
Cuomo should order the MTA to
terminate it.”
A spokesperson for the MTA declined
to comment on the lawsuit, as
it is policy to not comment on pending
litigation. With regard to the letter, the
spokesman said the MTA is currently
reviewing it. At the monthly meeting
for the MTA Board’s LIRR Committee
on Feb. 20, LIRR President Patrick
Nowakowski said the MTA has asked
the New York State Department of Labor
and the MTA Inspector General to
investigate the allegations.
James Bonner, President of NYAR,
released a statement to the Ridgewood
Times denying the allegations.
“New York & Atlantic Railway denies
these unsubstantiated, uncorroborated,
and unsupported allegations and
will be fi ling a response,” Bonner said.
“We take all claims against our business
seriously, but these allegations
are baseless and without merit.”
Photo courtesy of New York and Atlantic Railway
Crossing signal malfunction causes Congress members to speak out
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
While walking beneath an
overpass on Flushing Avenue
on Feb. 11, Maspeth
civic leader Christina Wilkinson
heard the horn of an approaching
train behind her — but when she
turned around to see it, she noticed
something was wrong.
The train was crossing Flushing
Avenue on the overpass, but the
warning lights hanging above the
road were not fl ashing, the bells were
not ringing and no workers jumped
off the train to stand in the road and
stop traffi c.
“I was just a little surprised, like
wow did I just see that?” Wilkinson
said. “They don’t go very quickly, they
slowly pass through, but the way it’s
angled there you could turn a corner
and have the train right in front of you.”
Wilkinson, the president of
Citizens for a Better Maspeth, said
she reached out to the local elected
offi cials as soon as she got home. Her
call to action was swift ly answered
when the very next day, Feb. 12, Congresswomen
Grace Meng and Nydia
Velazquez sent a letter to the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) urging
an inspection of the highway-rail
crossings in Maspeth.
The brief letter pointed out that
the signals at the intersection in
question are especially important
for alerting drivers and pedestrians
because there is no crossing gate at
that location. The letter also called
for an inspection that covers all the
rail crossings in Maspeth, citing
the recent history of gate and signal
malfunctions at Maspeth Avenue and
Rust Street only a few blocks away.
In a joint statement released on
Feb. 14, Velazquez expressed her
grave concern for the safety of local
residents around the railroad tracks.
“Maspeth is a signifi cant hub for
rail traffi c and we need to ensure that
the Federal Railroad Administration
carefully examines all the rail crossings
in this community, before an
accident occurs, so residents can feel
safe walking about or driving in their
own neighborhood,” Velazquez said.
Meng thanked Velazquez for joining
her in this eff ort and emphasized
the urgency of the matter.
“The Federal Railroad Administration
must immediately send an
inspector to investigate the highway
rail crossings in Maspeth aft er
this dangerous incident,” said Meng.
“There is a history of crossing gate
and signal malfunctions in the Maspeth
community, and the FRA must
investigate these issues with all due
haste.”
Meng also thanked Councilman
Robert Holden, who she said brought
the incident to her attention. In a
statement sent to the Ridgewood
Times, Holden said that it’s only a matter
of time before these malfunctions
lead to a serious accident.
“The fact that several accidents have
occurred because of malfunctioning
warning signal lights is unacceptable,”
Holden said. “This could result in a
tragic accident, but by sheer luck, it
hasn’t yet. In the future, we can’t rely
on luck to prevent transit accidents,
we need working signals.”
FRA spokesman Warren Flatau
sent a statement to the Ridgewood
Times about the administration’s
planned response:
“The Federal Railroad Administration
will dispatch a signal and train
control inspector to investigate the
matter, and respond directly to the
Members of Congress.”
Photo via Google Maps
The intersection of Flushing
Avenue and 56th Street, where the
railroad crossing signals recently
malfunctioned.
