Current:Home > MarketsFederal agency says lax safety practices are putting New York City subway workers at risk-LoTradeCoin
Federal agency says lax safety practices are putting New York City subway workers at risk
View Date:2024-12-23 18:39:06
NEW YORK (AP) — The agency that runs New York City’s subway system is putting track workers at risk by failing to follow its own safety rules, federal authorities said in an audit issued this week.
The Federal Transit Administration said in a special directive Tuesday that there is “a substantial risk of death or personal injury” because of unsafe conditions and practices in the subway system.
The FTA, an arm of the federal Department of Transportation, reviewed safety practices at New York City Transit after a subway worker was dragged under a train and killed on Nov. 29, 2023, and another worker was critically injured on June 6, 2024.
The FTA says there were 38 close calls in which a subway worker was almost killed or injured in 2023, up from 24 close calls in 2022.
Half of the near misses involved transit workers failing to follow established rules for flagging, the job of alerting train operators that workers are on the track, FTA said.
The FTA is demanding that New York City Transit conduct a comprehensive safety assessment, submit a mitigation plan and undertake weekly internal monitoring of its safety compliance.
Officials at New York City Transit, which is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said they would appeal the directive.
Demetrius Crichlow, the transit agency’s interim president, said in a letter to the FTA Wednesday that agency officials “strongly dispute FTA’s view that NYCT has somehow been negligent when it comes to addressing the safety of track workers, one of our most essential priorities.”
Crichlow said the close calls that the FTA identified “have been thoroughly investigated to determine cause, so we can implement new or strengthen existing mitigations to prevent future incidents.”
Crichlow said the Nov. 29, 2023 fatality and the June 6, 2024 worker injury are under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. “Given the unresolved status of these inquiries, it seems premature to infer that a ‘combination of unsafe conditions and practices’ led to those events,” he said.
If New York City Transit does not follow with the transit administration’s orders it could lose part of its federal funding.
veryGood! (152)
Related
- The Surreal Life’s Kim Zolciak Fuels Dating Rumors With Costar Chet Hanks After Kroy Biermann Split
- Mama June Shannon Reveals She Lost 30 Pounds Using Weight Loss Medication
- What we know about the lawsuit filed by the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
- Phoenix police violated civil rights, used illegal excessive force, DOJ finds
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- US submarine pulls into Guantanamo Bay a day after Russian warships arrive in Cuba
- Mama June admits she took daughter Alana's money from Honey Boo Boo fame
- Kel Mitchell Says Dan Schneider Once Brought Him Into a Closet, Yelled Wild Stuff During Argument
- Jake Paul's only loss led him to retool the team preparing him to face Mike Tyson
- Human bird flu infection confirmed in India amid concern over avian flu outbreaks in U.S. farm animals
Ranking
- Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
- Massachusetts on verge of becoming second-to-last state to outlaw ‘revenge porn’
- Andy Cohen Has This Message for RHONJ Fans Worried About a Cast Reboot
- Utah Hockey Club will be the name of the NHL team in Salt Lake City for its inaugural season
- Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
- Maine shooting exposes gaps in mental health treatment and communication practices
- Passports can now be renewed online. Here's how to apply.
- Teen drowns after jumping off pontoon boat into California lake
Recommendation
-
Todd Golden to continue as Florida basketball coach despite sexual harassment probe
-
PCE or CPI? US inflation is measured two ways, here's how they compare
-
ICE's SmartLINK app tracks migrants by the thousands. Does it work?
-
Wildfire claims 6 homes near Arizona town, shuts Phoenix-to-Las Vegas highway
-
Sister Wives’ Madison Brush Details Why She Went “No Contact” With Dad Kody Brown
-
Halle Bailey Reveals She Back to Her Pre-Baby Weight 7 Months After Welcoming Son Halo
-
Tony Bennett’s daughters sue their brother over his handling of the late singer’s assets
-
Lena Dunham Reacts to the New Girls Resurgence Over a Decade Since Its Release