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City Squeezes Riders as Capital Plan Falls Short

BY PETE DONOHUE

Overcrowding in the subways continues to intensify. So much so that comparing riders to sardines packed in a tin a can seems insulting - - to the sardines.

The fish have more room.

It’s gotten so bad, and the outlook so bleak, that transit executives have discussed hashing out with the NYPD a formal arrangement with protocols for the deployment of police officers as subway gatekeepers on a routine basis, not just for special events like the Papal visit and/or emergencies. Cops would oversee the “metering” of riders to platforms. The goal would be to alleviate dangerous overcrowding where riders are squeezed toe-to-heel, filling every inch of concrete from one edge of a platform to the other. Welcome to Third World NYC. Uniformed police holding back commuters trying to get to work or home.

It would be a politically ugly image for the city to project. The problem is there really are no quick solutions. Signal upgrades and expansion projects like the Second Ave. subway take a lot of time and money. Even projects now planned could get shelved. Gov. Cuomo has pledged $8.3 billion to fund the already-behind schedule, and still unfunded, MTA capital plan. The MTA wants to city to provide $3.2 billion in subsidies, including $1.5 billion for the second phase of the Second Ave. subway. Mayor de Blasio, however, has said the funding shortfall is largely a state problem.

TWU Local 100 Shines at Subway Series Opener

It was TWU Local 100 night at Citi Field for the opener of the Mets-Yankees subway series on Sept. 18, 2015. So who better to throw out the first pitch at this latest renewal of the crosstown rivalry than Local 100 President John Samuelsen. His pitch was a little high and wide, but compared to the famous (infamous) first pitch thrown by rapper 50 Cent, Samuelsen’s was a 100 mph fast ball right down Broadway. More than 500 members and families were at the stadium off the 7 line. They were all seated in one section thanks to the TWU Local 100 Rewards Program. Click above to watch the first pitch, and below for some photos from this night of fun at the home of the New York Mets.

African American Day Thrills Crowds as TWU Marches

TWU Local 100 thrilled crowds down the length of Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. on Sunday's African-American Day Parade, with a Union float, City buses, and a huge cavalcade of motorcycles. Stepping proudly at the head of our contingent was the Transit Honor Guard. President Samuelsen, Sec-Treasurer Earl Phillips, Rec. Secretary LaTonya Crisp Sauray and other top leadership enjoyed the spirit of the day as members were treated to food and refreshments from 11 AM, before the march began at 2PM. Enjoy the photos!

Watch TWU's Pete Donohue on NY1's The Call

TWU Local 100's Pete Donohue has "The First Word" on NY1's The Call

Labor Day Parade Features the Hard-Driving TWU

Labor Day brought out the politicians and also the rank and file as a parade of municipal and private sector unions marched up 5th Avenue in a New York Tradition. A big group picture showed the TWU contingent, as Local 100 was joined by brothers and sisters from the airlines and Long Island Bus and representatives from the International Union. Marching with the Local at various times were City Councilmembers including Barry Grodenchik, whom we helped get the Democratic nomination in the last special election. Governor Cuomo greeted President Samuelsen warmly along with Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips and asked the Local 100 President to address the parade. Also enjoying the company of transit workers were Sen. Chuck Schumer, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, Councilmember Ben Kallos, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Msgr. Kevin Sullivan of Catholic Charities, who paused for photos as we marched past St. Pat's. The weather cooperated and a great day was had by all. Just scroll through the photos and enjoy the show!

Local 100 President Samuelsen Responds to G Train Derailment

At 10:30 pm on Sept. 10, 2015 a ‘G’ Train Operator approaching Hoyt-Schermerhorn placed his brakes into emergency after he saw the bench wall protruding onto the running rail. It was too late. The train hit the collapsed bench wall and derailed, taking huge chunks of bench wall with it for more than 300 feet. The preliminary engineer’s report cited several causes including water seepage and the failure of a number of stabilizer brackets that had been installed to address earlier structural issues.

Local 100 President John Samuelsen immediately released a statement underscoring the importance of the MTA Capital Plan in addressing state-of-good-repair issues, including structural deficiencies throughout the system. He affirmed that the derailment is a “grim warning” that “the City and Mayor de Blasio must heed.”

“This derailment is a glimpse of what the future holds for NYC's Transit System unless the City steps up to foot their fair share of the bill for the MTA capital plan,” he stated. “The system won’t fix itself and the for the sake of New York’s working families, the City must address this unfunded liability."

The MTA’s five-year $30 billion capital plan is $11.5 billion short. The State has promised to come up with an additional $8 plus billion. The MTA is asking the City for $3.2 billion over the next five years to insure full funding. The City has pledged only half that amount. The capital plan includes billions for state-of-good-repair which would address important infrastructure issues, as well as 1,438 new buses, 948 new subway cars, 84 miles of new track, 20 major station rehabs and numerous new big ticket projects like the 2^nd Avenue subway.

Cecile "Ceci" Clue Passes; First Woman Chair of C/R Tower Division

TWU Local 100 officers and members are mourning the passing of Cecile “Ceci” Clue, the first elected woman Chair of the C/R Tower Division in the Local’s history. She passed away on Sept. 7, 2015 after a long battle with cancer. She was elected chair in 1994, serving one term. She remained active in the union as a Shop Steward until her retirement several years ago.

T/O Division Chair Steve Downs, said of Cecile: “Anyone who knew Cecile “Ceci” Clue knows she was a fierce advocate for her brothers and sisters on the job. She became involved in TWU 100 when she was still a rookie. Her powerful advocacy led her to be the first woman elected to chair the Conductor/Tower Operators division. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she responded with same fierceness that she displayed on behalf of her brothers and sisters in transit. It sustained her for several years. We mourn the loss of this fierce sister.”

Following are the arrangements for Sister Clue: Viewing and funeral, Tuesday, Sept 15, 2015. Viewing from 4:00pm to to 7:00pm. Funeral service at 7:00pm. at St. Gabriel Episcopal Church, 331 Hawthorne St., Brooklyn, NY 11225, (718) 774-5248. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her memory to: Cancer Treatment Center, 1331 E. Wyoming Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19124

TWU Notches Two Special Election Wins

Politico reported early this morning that "former state assemblyman Barry Grodenchik clinched the Democratic nomination for an open City Council seat on Thursday, defeating a crowded field of candidates that included a former aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the president of the one of the largest co-op associations in Queens. Grodenchik, a lifelong resident of Queens who had the backing of the county’s Democratic Party, along with the United Federation of Teachers, the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Transportation Workers Union, won with nearly 28 percent of the vote, according to the city’s Board of Elections." TWU Local 100's Political Action Department was on the ground for Grodenchik (above left), urging transit workers in his district to cast their votes for the candidate.

In Westchester, it was another TWU win as Yonkers Democrat Ken Jenkins "secured a commanding win over primary challenger Nicole Benjamin-Horsford in the District 16 (Yonkers) Democratic primary. He received 979 votes to her 631." With the winner last night were TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux (at right), and, at left of the candidate, Private Lines Bus Division Chair Bill Mooney. Congratulations!

John Samuelsen Honors Transit 9/11 Responders

In remarks to an overflow audience of men and women TWU Local 100 members who responded to Ground Zero, Local 100 President John Samuelsen spoke of that fateful day and the determination of transit workers to do all that they could in the rescue and recovery effort. He also spoke of the Union's continuing fight to gain more recognition for what transit workers did at the site.

Local 100 Official Gets Kudos for Tackling Perp on Brooklyn Street

The New York Daily News reports this morning on how our own Joe Landro, Recording Secretary in the Structure Department and a Structure Maintainer B, was outside the Union Hall when he noticed something wrong. Here's the story, as written by Joseph Stepansky and Dan Rivoli:

A transit union official got to dabble in police work Wednesday morning when he helped nab a man suspected of assault.

Joe Landro, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 official, chased and tackled hefty six-foot, 205-pound Terrell Holley, 29, after Holley allegedly slammed a woman’s face into the door of a Chase Bank in downtown Brooklyn around 11 a.m. “I thought of my wife, my mother, my daughter,” Landro said. “Any guy who does that is a coward.”

Landro, 48, of Staten Island, tailed the emotionally disturbed suspect after hearing a witness yell, “Stop that man.” He told cops on the street about the assault, prompting Holley to flee. Landro caught up with Holley at Atlantic Avenue and pulled him to the ground, holding him there with the help of another bystander until police could put cuffs on him.

Read the story here.

Nice work, Joe!