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CTA’s Get Their Due from Gov. Hochul: Honored for Sunset Park Incident Actions

IB Image APRIL 27 – CTA Charlene Gardner, who was at 36^th Street in Sunset Park when shots were fired aboard a Manhattan-bound N train, and CTA Angel Oquendo, who was at 25^th Street on the R line, were honored by NYS Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA brass as part of a group of NYCT employees who responded to the April 12incident.

Stations VP Robert Kelley was also on hand as the CTA’s had their names read out and were handed proclamations by Governor Hochul and MTA CEO Janno Lieber. They gave accounts of what happened to the Union.

In addition, N and R train crews were also honored at the event, along with Staff Analysts represented by TWU Local 100 and working in the MTA's digital communications unit.

Charlene Gardner said, “I was working overtime, doing my job, scrapping and pulling [a broom]. I was in the middle of the southbound platform. I heard a commotion. I turned and saw customers taking pictures of smoke coming out of the front end of a train. I proceeded to make my way in, with my scrap pan and broom.

“As I made it to the staircase, cops, and MTA officials with vests came running down both staircases. They were saying, we want to evacuate immediately. A cop said, “Do you work here?” I told her I did. She said, “Whatever you need to do, get out of here now, this is an emergency.” I did what she said.

“I secured my equipment, ran up the stairs, and saw the clerk leaving the booth. The mezzanine had a few blood spots on it. People had scattered. For those who didn’t have directions, who were in panic mode, I told them, “You guys need to leave the station.”

“There were guys coming into the station. I said, Guys, you need to get out of here.” I got to the top of the staircase. Police hadn’t barricaded it off yet. Guys were saying I’m missing my train, I said, “no, the station’s closed,” and that was it until they barricaded it. It was a long day.

Angel Oquendo arrived at the 25^th Street station just after the incident occurred. He recalls that “There was a big crowd coming up the stairs. Cops were pushing people out of the way. They asked me if I could get some of that caution tape, and I did. I got it and I started directing customers to alternate transportation, to go 5^th Avenue and take the bus. “

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Staff Analysts Praised by Governor for Professionalism During Sunset Park Shooting Incident

IB Image APRIL 27 – NYS Governor Kathy Hochul praised the work of TWU Local 100 represented Staff Analysts – communications professionals who are usually behind the scenes and not seen by the public, for their roles after the shooting aboard an N Train in Sunset Park.

Our members – pictured here with their Union Rep, Executive Board Member Denise Wellington – were part of a group of 18 MTA employees who were recognized with official proclamations presented by Hochul alongside MTA CEO Janno Lieber at MTA Headquarters.

They were honored alongside the N and R train crews who have already been the subject of much media attention. Also honored were our CTA's, who have also not seen much media attention to date.

Staff Analysts Tanyia Brand-Jones and Annie Morrison, both part of the digital communications team at NYC Transit, worked quickly to give transit riders vital information in the wake of the shooting aboard the N Train in Sunset Park, Brooklyn on April 12th.

Departmental Manager Tyler Schow gave this account of what transpired at the Rail Control Center, where they work:

“Immediately it was obvious something more severe than a usual incident was coming over. Staff rushed over to the area to start getting everyone to safety, determining what was going on, and then me and Tanyia and Annie were working together to determine what was the impact to train service. Obviously there was going to be some sort of disruption.

“How can we make sure what kind alternative routes do people have available, how can we get that out to as many as possible? So the RCC is just a lot of collaboration -- everyone working together to make sure that everyone was safe, and that everyone could get to where they needed to go.”

Signal Helper Struck on F Line

APRIL 25 -- A 64 year-old Signal Helper assigned to auxiliary flagging duties came into contact with a train on the F line this morning and suffered injuries that include a broken arm and fractured ribs, MOW Vice President John Chiarello and Line Equipment/Signals Division Chair Chris Canty said.

The member is in stable condition at a local hospital. He has been on the job for three years. The incident is under investigation to determine the cause or causes of the accident.

Sunset Park Train, Bus Crews Honored at City Hall

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 15 -- Mayor Adams on Friday honored our Heroes of Sunset Park: transit workers who helped riders escape after a gunman opened fire on an N-train Tuesday morning.

"I want to thank you for your service to the city and your bravery on that morning," said Adams, who presided over the City Hall ceremony virtually while isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. "... You stayed calm. You stayed focused, and you saved lives."

Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips further described the roles Train Operators and Conductors played during the emergency. “This was an active shooter situation, and Conductors and Train Operators were taking charge, doing what was necessary to get riders out of danger,” Phillips said. “At any given minute, they were either directing passengers, making announcements, moving their trains, taking police into the tunnel to look for the shooter, or communicating with the Rail Control Center and emergency responders. Our Bus Operators, meanwhile, filled the void, picking up riders along the N line, including those rushing out of 36th St.”

Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo presented city Proclamations to: N-Train Operator David Artis and Conductor Raven Haynes; R-Train Operator Joseph Franchi and Conductor Dayron Williams; and B37 Bus Operator Parla Mejia. R-Train Operator Michael Catalano and Conductor Willy Sanchez couldn’t attend but will receive Proclamations too.

To further highlight the roles transit workers play in emergencies, TWU Local 100 arranged a press conference on the steps of City Hall for the workers to describe their experiences and actions Tuesday morning, drawing more than 2 dozen television, radio, and print reporters and camera operators.

Here are some of the clips. Click on the image above to see stills of the event.

Hero MTA Workers Speak Out After NYC Shooting Rampage

After Bullets Flew, NYC Subway Workers Kept Their Cool

Union Endorses Kathy Hochul for Governor of New York State

APRIL 11 -- Hundreds of union members and officers joined TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano at the Union Hall on Monday to give the union’s endorsement to Gov. Kathy Hochul for a full four-year term. Hochul, the daughter and granddaughter of union steelworkers, was greeted with enthusiastic chants of “Kathy! Kathy!” and workers bearing “Labor for Kathy” signs as she entered with President Utano.

Utano praised Hochul for facing tough challenges with common-sense and tenacity since taking over from scandal-plagued Andrew Cuomo, who resigned earlier this year. “She has partnered with the Mayor of New York to fight back against the triple crises of crime, homelessness and mental illness that are most manifested in this City in our transit system,” Utano said. “I believe that her actions so far are enormous steps in the right direction for transit workers and transit riders.”

Hochul vowed to “fight like hell” for transit workers. “Because for far too long, and Tony and I have talked about this, there’s not been the respect and the admiration that people gave to a lot of front-line workers,” Hochul sad. “Well, how did the front-line workers get to their jobs as front-line workers if it wasn’t for all of you showing up during the pandemic? You are the essential workers to the essential workers, which puts you in a very special place.”

The Governor’s budget includes first-time improvements to the Tier 6 pension plan since the state legislature enacted it in response to the 2010 fiscal crisis, including halving the required time on the job to be vested from a decade to five years. President Utano called this "an important first step," in the ongoing fight for pension equity.

Union Mourns Connail Friel, 87, Retired MaBSTOA Division 2 Chair

TWU Local 100 is mourning the passing of retired MaBSTOA Division 2 Chair Connail “Connie” Friel. His family said that he died peacefully at home surrounded by family on April 9, 2022. He was 87 and had been retired from union service since 2003.

Brother Friel was born on April 9, 1934 in Mount Charles Co. Donegal, Ireland. He emigrated to the US at the age of 18 and was married to the love of his life, Theresa Friel (nee Sammon) for 62 years.

He started with NYCT as a Bus Operator, and became Chairman of the old Coliseum Depot before moving to Kingsbridge Depot where he served for 30 years prior to retirement. He then became a member of the TWU Retirees Association.

Local 100 President Tony Utano said, “Connie was a loyal TWU member and effected officer of this union for many years. He served his members at Kingsbridge Depot and MaBSTOA Division 2 with great dedication. Our union owes him a great debt of gratitude. We all send our deepest sympathies to his family here and in Ireland.”

He is survived by a son, Connail Friel, Jr. and daughter, Eileen Stivale (nee Friel), five grandchildren, five great grandchildren, four brothers and sisters, and a number of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Theresa, and son, Eamon.

Visitation will be held, today, Wednesday, April 13th 2PM-5PM at Williams Funeral Home at 5628m Broadway (232nd Street), Bronx, NY 10463. A private burial service for family and close friends will be held at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Valhalla, NY by invitation only.

Brooklyn Dep Boro President Diana Richardson's Rousing Speech to our Women's Month Event

Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Diana Richardson gives a heartfelt keynote address to our Women's Month event at the Union Hall on March 24th. She is a longtime stalwart supporter of TWU Local 100 and her remarks show it.

T/O Garrett Goble is Remembered on the Second Anniversary of His Passing

MARCH 27 -- Union leadership and rank and file members gathered at the Flatbush Ave/Brooklyn College station on the 2 and 5 lines to remember the sacrifice of Train Operator Garrett Goble, who evacuated his passengers when a fire tore through his 2 Train but perished before he could himself escape. The memorial event came exactly two years after Brother Goble's heroic sacrifice. An award in his name was presented to an NYCT Conductor, Mark Burns, who also performed heroically when he, as part of a combined effort of Conductors and Train Operators, rescued 300 riders from rising floodwaters on the R Train last September 1. Brother Burns accepted the award from RTO Vice President Canella Gomez.

President Tony Utano recalled Brother Goble's sacrifice which came at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic began to claim victims in New York. He called Brother Goble "perhaps the greatest hero" of the pandemic era, noting that it was the job of transit workers to bring all other essential workers to their jobs, so that the City could continue to operate.

Also speaking were VP Gomez, Local 100 VP of MABSTOA Richard Davis, members of the Goble family, including his widow, Delilah, and mother, Vicki, transit workers who have been mainstays of the family, and NYCT VP of Service Delivery, Herbert Lambert.

Transit Ban Law Should Be Implemented

State law enables judges to ban subway perverts and riders who attack transit workers from the system for up to three years – but they haven’t imposed a single ban since the law was passed in late 2020, The New York Post reported Sunday evening. TWU Local 10O President Tony Utano gave the following statement and information to the NY Post for its report:

Authorities should set transit bans or impose restrictions, at the very least, in the most egregious cases.

“We will gladly plaster the system with their photos and call the cops if we see them entering their home station or boarding their local bus,” Utano said. “If a ban, or the threat of a ban, deters even just one assault against a transit worker, one attack against a rider, then it’s worth it.”

Critics contend that a ban is unenforceable. While it’s true that someone who is banned can sneak back into the system, but they would be aware of the risk. If caught, they could get into even more trouble, possibly fined or jailed. For example, a driver who loses his or her license for driving drunk can get behind the wheel of a car and drive. No one is going to see that person start the engine. But that driver would be taking a big risk if caught.

Bans were possible even before the law. Local 100 pushed prosecutors to include a partial transit ban on an unhinged, terminally ill man who stabbed a conductor in Harlem in 2019. He was only allowed to use the system if going for cancer treatment.

Years ago, state parole officials working with the NYPD Transit Bureau ensured that subway criminals with extensive rap sheets for preying on subway riders had subway bans imposed as a condition of their state parole. Police officers studied mug shots of the worst offenders and could recognize them if they saw them. In 2002, there were at least eight career subway criminals with bans or restrictions imposed by parole officials.

“If that’s no longer happening, then authorities should revive the tactic,” Utano said. “It’s common sense.”

Brooklyn Deputy Boro President Diana Richardson Keynotes Women's Month Celebration at the Hall

MARCH 24 -- Here are photos from our celebration of the history and accomplishments of female transit workers. Brooklyn's Deputy Borough President Diana Richardson (center, first image) a longtime friend of TWU Local 100 from her time as a NYS Assemblywoman, gave a rousing keynote address. The Master of Ceremonies for the event was our own Vice President of Car Equipment, Shirley Martin, who regaled the crowd with her accounts of breaking down barriers in Jamaica as the first female machinist to be hired by the Bauxite Company. President Utano also talked about his pride in Union women who now make up 7,000 members of the NYCT workforce.

The event was coordinated by Deborah Brown, Director of our Working Women's Committee, who presented six honorees with certificates of recognition. Honored at the event were Tracey Young, Sandra Lennon, Celeste Kirkland, Cynthia Wells, Yvette Bassknight, and Joan Bygrave. Local 100's Communications Department presented a video recapping the history of women in transit, and celebrating their leadership roles in the union today.

The National Anthem was sung by CMSW Executive Vice President Lisa Nero. Political Action Director Sharase DeBouse introduced Ms. Richardson. Monique Rondon gave a closing address addresing the evening's theme, Strength Through Adversity. Watch this space for the videos, which will be posted soon.