AVP Kemp Blasts Transit Management on Systemwide Radio Outage

DECEMBER 17—At the MTA Board's public comment period this morning, TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Alexander Kemp took agency bosses to task for a massive bus radio outage that started yesterday and is still not fixed.

In a tightly-worded two-minute speech, the time limit set by the MTA, Kemp noted that Bus Operators are without access to working radios, and that members in the past have been physically, sexually and verbally assaulted. 

"The second you have an emergency, you press this radio, and help is on the way—but what happens when you press the button and help is not on the way?" Kemp said.

The Admin VP added that bus radios are "their last line and their first line of defense," and that New York City Transit's own policies forbid Bus Operators from carrying cellphones, but that the Authority is now telling operators to use them in an emergency.

"If you attempt to use the solution we provide to you, you could potentially be fired," said Kemp. 

Kemp said the union's position is that any bus without a working radio is unsafe and should not be in service.

MaBSTOA Vice President Donald Yates confirmed that the outage is still not fixed.

"t's a very unsafe situation for us because we rely on that radio. We were told it was a systemwide blackout," said Yates.

Line Equipment/Signals Mourns Telephone Maintainer and father Fitzgerald Boyce, 53

DECEMBER 16—Fitzgerald Boyce, a Telephone Maintainer who worked out of the main shop at 3300 Northern Boulevard, died this morning at home of a heart attack, Vice Chair George Torres said. He was on vacation at the time. Brother Boyce, 53, had just under seven years with NYC Transit.

Torres said that Boyce was severely ill from COVID during the pandemic, and was hospitalized. "We were very glad to see him back at the desk when he came back to work," he said, adding that Boyce "was a big music and photography guy, and a DJ. He was very down-to-earth, and well-liked by the members."

Brother Boyce leaves his wife, Perphenia Tucker-Boyce, and his two sons, Myles, 21, and Kevin, 16, to mourn their father. Arrangements were pending today and we will update this post to reflect them.

Myran Pollack, center, flanked by Brooklyn DA Gonzalez and President Chiarello

Train Operator Myran Pollack Sees His Assailant Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

DECEMBER 15—Train Operator Myran Pollack spent 16 days in the hospital last October recovering from 11 stab wounds inflicted by a man who later pleaded guilty to attempted murder. On Monday, he told his story to the court and saw his assailant sentenced to 15 years in prison plus five years of supervised release.

The October 8, 2024 unprovoked attack on the 4 platform at the Utica Avenue stop in Crown Heights was every transit worker’s nightmare. Jonathan Davalos, 27, nodded at the veteran Train Operator, who was trying to clear his train at the last stop, and then swung at him with a knife, stabbing him repeatedly as he tried to run for his life and to ward off the attack. Without the swift intervention of NYPD officers, Pollack believes, he would have died right there on the platform.

“As the customer stepped off the train facing me, he pulled out a large kitchen knife. No words were spoken. No sounds were made. There was no fight. No confrontation of any kind. Just the blank look from the customer. It was like looking at the face of a mannequin," said Pollack to a hushed courtroom full of people hanging on his every word.