In honor of National Transit Employee Appreciation Day, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) leadership spent time with transit workers in the field throughout the Authority’s service region to demonstrate the importance of recognizing the essential service that employees deliver every day to get riders to their destination safely and efficiently.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber joined station cleaners at the Grand Central-42 St subway station where he mopped floors, picked up trash and removed stickers from walls and pillars. Lieber also grabbed the megaphone and learned how to make announcements to riders getting on and off trains with platform controllers.
“Today is a chance for all of us to show our gratitude to the thousands of workers across the MTA who keep New York moving. Of course, we thank our conductors and operators, station agents and cleaners as I always do when I’m out in the system – but also folks like the planners who schedule trips and the technical specialists who maintain our fleet,” Lieber said. “Every employee is a valued member of the MTA family, and it’s been fun to spend the morning with some of them and join in on their work.”
NYC Transit President Richard Davey began his day at the Michael J. Quill bus depot with NYC Transit Senior Vice President of Buses Frank Annicaro, cleaning and preparing buses to go into service for the morning rush. Davey then joined station agents at the 34 St-Penn Station Customer Service Center to greet customers before boarding an M11 bus to Hudson Yards-24 St. That’s where Davey shadowed a subway conductor on his home line to Jackson Heights, where he met with staff at the subway station and bus terminal.
Davey also recorded an announcement that has been playing in subway stations throughout the system since Friday.
“I am delighted to be here to acknowledge the 47,000 men and woman of New York City Transit who move this city, often unsung, unheralded, unnoticed,” Davey said. “We all see platform controllers, conductors and bus operators, but there are a lot of folks behind the scenes who we don't see, as New Yorkers moving this city. So we are grateful, particularly today, for all that they do.”
New York City Transit SVP of Subways Demetrius Crichlow and Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo donned yellow vests and learned what it takes to step out of the booth and help customers as Customer Service Agents at the Grand Central-42 St subway station.
Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi headed to Track 25 at Grand Central Terminal, where she worked with some behind-the-scenes employees to learn how they decide which tracks trains arrive on and depart from.
Rinaldi also recorded an announcement asking the public to thank employees during their travels.
“I'm very proud to say that of all the MTA agencies, Metro-North has the highest rate of customer satisfaction, survey after survey. And why is that? Because we've got amazing employees,” Rinaldi said. “It's the employees who are delivering unbelievable on time performance. It's the employees who are keeping the iconic transportation facility right upstairs as pristine and beautiful as it is. People who maintain our tracks, maintain our trains, keep everybody safe and keep everybody moving. These are hard jobs, and our employees do an amazing job and I just want to express my appreciation and the appreciation of all of our customers for what they do every day.”
To celebrate National Transit Employee Appreciation Day, Acting Long Island Rail Road President Robert Free returned to his first LIRR job as a station cleaner at Jamaica Station. Free told his fellow cleaners that the platforms seemed longer and the trash bags heavier than he remembered when he was in the field.
In addition to his time at Jamaica Station, Free also recorded an announcement that is playing at LIRR stations throughout the day.
"I'm proud to say that I began my Long Island Rail Road career as a station cleaner and today I went back to my roots, put on a uniform and went to work,” Free said. “We often talk about the customer forward-facing employees, but today I wanted to highlight some of our behind-the-scenes employees who are part of the backbone of our operation such as machinists, track foremen and signal inspectors. Day in and day out, these employees and all the other Long Island Rail Road employees put their pride and professionalism on display as we provide a safe and reliable service for the busiest commuter railroad in North America.”