NYC Transit cuts OT, blames ‘unfavorable’ quarter, budget woes
New York City Transit is cutting overtime pay across its divisions, according to internal memos reviewed by the Daily News.
“As we complete the first quarter of 2024 and review our financial results, unbudgeted overtime has remained above the budget contingency,” NYC Transit President Richard Davey wrote last Friday in a memo to transit brass. “As a result, we are imposing a moratorium to bring our overtime back in line with the budget.”
The MTA as a whole — which includes NYC Transit, the commuter railways and MTA’s bridges and tunnels — spent $205.6 million in nonreimbursable overtime this year as of March 1, the most recent available figure.
That’s $72.3 million over the MTA’s nonreimbursable overtime budget for the months of January and February.
Frank Annicaro, head of buses for the agency, was more blunt in his Monday memo to senior staff.
“Given the unfavorable financial results for the first quarter, we are implementing immediate restrictions on the use of unbudgeted overtime until further notice,” he wrote.
Any unplanned overtime will require official approval.
“All nonemergency work should be planned to ensure it can be completed on straight time,” Davey wrote.
The moratorium is expected to slow down certain repair and station maintenance projects, but agency officials said Tuesday that service should not be impacted.
The moratorium will not apply to emergency work necessitated by weather events or other incidents, overtime required to run shuttle bus service or overtime required to fill certain staffing vacancies.
The overtime restrictions will still allow any additional hours required to operate the system safely.
Included in that is the long-running 24-hour fire watch at the East New York Bus Depot.
As previously reported by The News, the defunct fire sprinkler system in the aging depot has required nearly two years of round-the-clock fire patrols conducted by transit workers outside of their normal shifts — at a price tag of more than $4 million per year.
In his memo to top transit leadership, Davey said the moratorium would help the agency meet a $300 million cost-reduction target.