Bus Depot Workers Without Heat as Cold Settles on the City

Drivers are running buses indoors to keep warm at the East New York Bus Depot in Brooklyn.

December 12, 2023 Jose Martinez, THE CITY

A worker in a jean jacket walks into the East New York bus depot.

Workers at the MTA’s East New York bus depot say the building is not properly heated, Dec. 1, 2023. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY

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As temperatures dropped below the freezing mark and snowflakes fell on the city Thursday, the heating system inside a sprawling MTA bus depot remained out of order.

New York City Transit’s head of buses confirmed that the main high-pressure heating system at the East New York Bus Depot is undergoing repairs that have forced the transit agency to rely on alternatives, including providing portable heaters for warmth. Some bus operators also turned on buses inside the depot so workers could take shelter from the cold.

“That is an option but that is not the solution,” Frank Annicaro, the senior vice president for buses, told THE CITY. “The solution is bringing in the supplemental heaters.”

Repairs to the 70-year-old heating system are expected to continue through the next couple of weeks, an MTA spokesperson said, with the first part of the work anticipated to be completed by the end of this week.

“This was brought to their attention last year and the year before that,” a source told THE CITY. “There is no heat due to [the Department of Buses] negligence on making repairs — it’s that simple.”

City Department of Building records show that the depot at 1 Jamaica Ave. has 15 active violations from last April and June, all of which are related to a failure to file boiler inspections dating back to 2020.

Annicaro said the MTA is “up to snuff” on the Buildings Department violations and pinned the problems on changes to the scope of the project and supply-chain delays for components that need replacing.

“It’s not good timing, but again, our priority is to stay focused,” he said. “We’re having our in-house forces and contractors work on this thing.”

The depot, which opened more than 70 years ago, has been flagged repeatedly for fire equipment and safety violations by the Fire Department and the state Labor Department.

The FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Protection cited the MTA in January for non-working sprinkler and fire-alarm systems at the depot. The Daily News reported in May that the safety measures had been offline for more than a year.

Amanda Farinacci, an FDNY spokesperson, confirmed Thursday that those violations have yet to be corrected.

Workers said the absence of heat as temperatures sunk into the low 30s forced them to wear extra layers on the depot floor and move around to stay warm.

“This is East New York Depot — we make it happen here, one way or the other,” said one worker who asked not to be identified by name.

JP Patafio, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 vice president who represents Brooklyn bus operators, blasted what he called a “half-assed” system for keeping workers warm as winter approaches.

“It’s ridiculous, especially since they knew about it,” he said. “This is not something they didn’t know.”

Another source told THE CITY that up to three buses have been running inside the depot to keep bus maintainers and operators out of the cold.

“People are just wearing their winter coats indoors and bringing quilts and blankets from home,” that source said.

An MTA spokesperson said the depot’s heating system presented some problems last winter, adding that those problems had been repaired ahead of the more extensive work that is ongoing.

“When it’s too cold and the bus operators need to warm up, they’re going to sit in the buses and that’s inadequate to say the least,” Patafio said. “They need to get a game plan and figure this out. We can’t have people working in a depot with no heat going into the winter.”

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