Queens DA Joins Investigation Of MTA Overtime Pay Practices

QUEENS, NY — The Queens District Attorney's Office has joined a probe into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's overtime pay practices, signaling the possibility of criminal charges.

The Queens DA's office is working with MTA inspector general Barry Kluger to investigate possible overtime fraud at the transit authority, according to Newsday. The probe follows a report that exorbitant overtime pay has driven up the MTA's payroll expenses.

A spokeswoman for the Queens DA's office told Newsday that prosecutors "have met and are in consultation with" Kluger’s office as it investigates the MTA's overtime pay practices.

The spokeswoman would not provide Newsday with any additional details on the collaboration.

The MTA's payroll costs increased by $418 million last year amid a spike in overtime pay, according to a report by Empire Center, an Albany-based think tank.

Overtime pay jumped nearly 16 percent, and some rank-and-file workers earned more than the MTA's top executives when overtime and other pay was factored in, the data shows.

One former Long Island Rail Road worker earned $461,646 last year, including overtime and other pay — far more than NYC Transit President Andy Byford, who made $325,600 that year.

The transit authority says it relies on overtime work on nights and weekends to keep the transit system fully running. Paying existing workers overtime is cheaper than hiring more full-time employees, the agency says.

"Overtime is an important and useful tool as we urgently seek to modernize our entire system, but we must be sure it is being used effectively, accurately and appropriately," MTA Chairman Patrick Foye said in a statement.