"Leaking" bodies of people killed in the New York City subway system are often brought to employee lunch rooms and break areas, union officials claimed Monday.
In an effort to quickly restore services, dead corpses are deposited in "whatever room happens to be nearest," a transit workers union source told the New York Post on Monday.
"If a lunch room is nearest, they'll put it in the lunch room," the source said.
The practice of putting dead bodies next to people's lunches has provoked unsurprising ire among transit workers.
"Transit does not care about morale. They do not invest in psychological welfare for their workers," wrote Taytana A. Klimenko in a private Facebook group conversation for station agents. "I am surprised we do not have a high suicide rate—we must have some strong workers. Very tough. Something the union should look to invest into?"
"Be a pro?" Tommy McNally, a safety inspector, posted to the group. "Station Agents walking over bodies in the bathroom? Uncovered bodies leaking fluids..be a pro…this isn't Vietnam pal….be a pro and suck it up if you get hepatitis…? No, close the station, put the body in a bag, on the platform, wait for the morgue to take it…then open the station."
"The police are forced [to] store the bodies in utility rooms and other subway rooms while waiting for Medical Examiner's Office staff to arrive," said a union representative in a statement. "It's unacceptable that transit workers have to endure this on the job. Mayor de Blasio and his administration have failed to provide enough staffing for the Medical Examiner's Office to quickly retrieve and remove bodies from the subway after these tragedies."
An MTA source contested the union's claims, insisting that the bodies are not kept in break rooms. Rather, they are temporarily kept in "non-public areas" by the NYPD until a medical examiner can arrive.
An MTA spokesperson said in a statement that it is "of utmost importance" to remove anyone who dies from the subway as quickly as possible in order to "restore service quickly and to give humane treatment to the deceased and their family."
"The placement and removal of bodies are handled by NYPD and the NYC Medical Examiner, and we're discussing with TWU officials how any of the current practices can be enhanced for the comfort of our workers," the statement said.