MTA Employees Fake Subway Inspection, Possibly Endanger Passengers

Offenders charged for tampering with public records In an ongoing chain of MTA laziness, ten MTA employees have been charged with filing fake subway inspections, the Daily News and other news outlets report. "Failing to properly inspect the subway system can lead to delays in service and, potentially, endanger the safety of subway riders," District Attorney Vance said in a statement regarding the discovery.

"Our subway system is one of the oldest and most expansive in the world, and it takes significant effort to maintain it...No matter how lax an agency's internal controls might be, tampering with public records to cover up a failure to inspect signal equipment is never acceptable conduct."

A bit disconcerted? Understandable. Especially because those subway riders Vance speaks of are, like, everybody.

Instead of going to subway sites and inspecting signals, confirming their proper function, and scanning each signal's barcode, "inspectors" were simply scanning barcode copies that were stored in one of the inspector's lockers, the New York Times reported Monday.

According to the New York Post, the defendants' lawyers maintain that the inspectors did indeed check the signals, but used the barcodes because they were required to meet unreasonable quotas and deadlines.

Two supervisors who were charged on Friday pleaded guilty to tampering with public records. According to the NYT, these supervisors face up to seven years imprisonment.

--Nick Gallinelli