Unorthodox travel
$100K rabbi loads up on ride perks
An Orthodox rabbi who makes a city salary of nearly $100,000 as a “yeshiva liaison” for school buses gets a government car to commute to and from his Brooklyn home — plus a $59,000-a-year driver and gofer, The Post has learned.
Rabbi Moshe “Morris” Ausfresser, 75, works only four days a week, co-workers say, taking Fridays off for the Jewish Sabbath, even though the sabbath begins shortly before sunset. He keeps the car overnight.
His personal assistant, Shersheial Borisute (inset), chauffeurs the rabbi between his Borough Park home and the Office of Pupil Transportation in Long Island City, coworkers said. Borisute drops the rabbi off at the front door, then parks the car in a lot before going inside.
The DOE called Borisute (inset) a “transportation coordinator,” but colleagues say he just drives and assists the rabbi — even fetching his lunch.
“He coordinates the rabbi’s transportation,” one charged.
The OPT, a unit of the Department of Education, oversees bus transportation for 150,000 kids in public, private and religious schools.
The office has come under fire since September. An OPT hotline has received 135,685 calls so far this year, including complaints about late or no-show buses, compared with 114,346 last year. And whistleblowers have charged that supervisors have let bus companies hire drivers without adequate background checks.
The Post has reported that several OPT employees commute in city-issued cars but do little or no field work, which the rules require.
“We take allegations of misuse very seriously and this matter is being investigated,” said DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot, who refused to discuss specific employees. Chancellor Richard Carranza has fired an official who oversaw busing and food service, Eric Goldstein, and on Friday accepted the resignation of ex-deputy chancellor Elizabeth Rose, who supervised Goldstein.
Ausfresser, who joined the education department in 2007, is the only OPT employee who serves a single religious group.
His current salary is $98,646, the DOE said, but records show he collected $101,873 in fiscal year 2017.
Borisute, who joined the DOE in 2016, makes $58,922 — about the same or more than investigators who probe alleged misconduct by bus drivers and escorts.
Ausfresser demands immediate attention to yeshiva problems, and insists that bus drivers be removed, even if it is unwarranted, according to co-workers. “When there’s an issue, he wants it done right away — drop everything,” one said.
The rabbi also goes up the DOE chain for favors — but doesn’t always get what he wants, staffers said.
Ausfresser and Borisute did not return calls from The Post.