MTA fined $24K for roof condition at Quill bus depot in Manhattan

State Labor Department officials have fined the MTA more than $24,000 for failing to fix cracks and potholes on the roof of a Manhattan bus depot — a sanction that has agency officials worried about violations at other bus facilities.

An August 23 violation notice, obtained by the Daily News, indicates that MTA owed $24,408 for failing to fix problems identified during a March 8, 2022 Department of Labor inspection at the Michael J. Quill Bus Depot in Hell’s Kitchen.

The state fine, assessed for failing to abate a known violation, grows by $108 each day until the issue is resolved.

The inspection occurred “almost a year and a half before a monetary fine was assessed,” Carlos Pacheco, the chief safety officer for MTA buses, wrote in an email to fellow transit brass last week that was obtained by The News.

The email to MTA bus safety managers as well as top officials including NYC Transit bus boss Frank Annicaro was intended to alert its recipients “of the responsibility and part you play to ensure we are identifying, communicat[ing] and documenting any issues that need to be addressed to avoid an employee injury at your location.”

“Ultimately if nothing is done your location can be fined,” Pacheco wrote. He added: “Regulatory agencies will continue to inspect our locations, please be prepared.”

A similar fine was assessed last month at the MTA’s East New York bus depot, where the Labor Department has repeatedly raised concerns with the facility’s fire alarms.

Repair work at the Quill bus depot — the city’s largest — has been ongoing, with the MTA planning a major overhaul of the facility.

The Department of Labor first received complaints about lighting, improper equipment training, and other alleged problems at the Quill depot in February 2022.

Subsequent inspections in March 2022 and May 2022 failed to substantiate several of those complaints, though the depot’s management was cited for failing to provide proper training records for some of its heavy equipment.

Labor Department inspectors noticed several violations not alleged in the February 2022 complaint, including damage to the building’s rooftop bus parking lot, their report says.

“The walkaround inspection of the roof area revealed that there are excessive amounts of trip and fall hazards due to the roof’s floor having large amounts of cracks and potholes. … There were some holes in certain areas of the roof where the rebar was visible,” inspector Kwo Lam wrote.

The roof of the facility can hold roughly 120 buses, and is home to 16 electric bus charging stations. A private contractor, charged with repairing the building, is also set up on the roof.

“Employees are exposed to serious physical harm due to slip, trip and fall hazards caused by the floor cracks, holes/potholes, and uneven surfaces throughout the entire roof,” Lam wrote, concluding that the MTA violated the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard for walking surfaces.

The Labor Department also dinged NYC Transit for failing to ensure workers wear proper protective equipment in the facility, as well as for failing to properly post the city-approved weight limits at various spots in the depot.

An April 2023 inspection found the MTA had fixed those issues, but still failed to meet an April 5 deadline to fix the cracks and potholes in the roof.

An MTA spokesman told The News that the depot is safe to work in, and that repairs are ongoing.

“Safety is a top priority at the MTA,” Dave Steckel said. “We have completed repairs on most of the issues raised and are on schedule to complete this project by the end of the year.”

The Department of Labor has given the MTA until January 5 to fix the roof. If the repairs aren’t completed by then, the department says it will refer the matter to the Attorney General’s office for further legal action.