Woman Accused of Hate-Crime Murder in Subway Push By MARC SANTORA NY Times

Woman Accused of Hate-Crime Murder in Subway Push By MARC SANTORA A 31-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday and charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime in connection with the death of a man who was pushed onto the tracks of an elevated subway station in Queens and crushed by an oncoming train. The woman, Erika Menendez, selected her victim because she believed him to be a Muslim or a Hindu, Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said. “The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter’s nightmare: Being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train,” Mr. Brown said in an interview. In a statement, Mr. Brown quoted Ms. Menendez, “in sum and substance,” as having told the police: “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.” Ms. Menendez conflated the Muslim and Hindu faiths in her comments to the police and in her target for attack, officials said. The victim, Sunando Sen, was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu. Mr. Sen “was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself,” Mr. Brown said. “Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant’s actions should never be tolerated by a civilized society.” Mr. Brown said he had no information on the defendant’s criminal or mental history. “It will be up to the court to determine if she is fit to stand trial,” he said. Ms. Menendez is expected to be arraigned by Sunday morning. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. By charging her with murder as a hate crime, the possible minimum sentence she faced would be extended to 20 years from 15 years, according to prosecutors. On Saturday night, Ms. Menendez, wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, was escorted from the 112th Precinct to a waiting car by three detectives. Greeted by camera flashes and dozens of reporters, she let out a loud, unintelligible moan. She did not respond to reporters’ questions. The attack occurred around 8 p.m. on Thursday at the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside. Mr. Sen, 46, was looking out over the tracks when a woman approached him from behind and shoved him onto the tracks, according to the police. Mr. Sen never saw her, the police said. The woman fled the station, running down two flights of stairs and down the street. By the next morning, a brief and grainy black-and-white video of the woman who the police said was behind the attack was being broadcast on news programs. Patrol officers picked up Ms. Menendez early Saturday after someone who had seen the video on television spotted her on a Brooklyn street and called 911, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. She was taken to Queens and later placed in lineups, according to detectives. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Friday that, according to witnesses’ accounts, there had been no contact on the subway platform between the attacker and the victim before the shove. The case was the second this month involving someone being pushed to death in a train station. In the first case, Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Elmhurst, Queens, died under the Q train at the 49th Street and Seventh Avenue station on Dec. 3. Naeem Davis, 30, was charged with second-degree murder in that case. Mr. Sen, after years of saving money, had opened a small copying business on the Upper West Side this year. Ar Suman, a Muslim, and one of three roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he and Mr. Sen often discussed religion. Though they were of different faiths, Mr. Suman said, he admired the respect that Mr. Sen showed for those who saw the world differently than he did. Mr. Suman said he once asked Mr. Sen why he was not more active in his faith and it resulted in a long philosophical discussion. “He was so gentle,” Mr. Suman said. “He said in this world a lot of people are dying, killing over religious things.” ■ Reporting was contributed by William K. Rashbaum, Wendy Ruderman, Jeffrey E. Singer and Julie Turkewitz. Susan C. Beachy contributed research. PUBLISHED DECEMBER 29, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/nyregion/woman-is-held-in-death-of-man-pushed-onto-subway-tracks-in-queens.html

MTA Money Scandals

The MTA, which never seems to have enough money, is paying handsome salaries to two chief operating officers, one of whom hasn’t worked there since May. The agency is paying current COO Nuria Fernandez $270,750 a year. And it’s also paying Charles Monheim $285,000 a year. Where’s Monheim? He couldn’t be located last week. He might be relaxing on a tropical beach, skiing in the Alps, or sipping a salted caramel hot chocolate at an upper West Side Starbucks. Julia Xanthos / New York Daily News Nuria Fernandez, the current MTA COO, is earning $270,750 a year. How did this happen? It all goes back to October 2011, when then-MTA Chairman Jay Walder left to run a conglomerate in Hong Kong. After an exhaustive international search, Gov. Cuomo decided the best person to be the next chairman happened to be right in midtown: Madison Square Garden executive Joseph Lhota. A press release announcing Lhota’s appointment mentioned as an aside that Fernandez would be Lhota’s second-in-command. Lhota wasn’t consulted about the chief operating officer position, then occupied by Monheim, according to current and former transit officials familiar with the situation. Monheim didn’t make any waves about his demotion, at least not publicly. That’s because he had a nifty provision in his contract that gave him a year’s salary if the MTA shifted him to another job title and he left the organization, according to the current and former officials. He stuck around until May and will continue getting pay checks for another five months. Spokesmen for Cuomo didn’t answer questions regarding the managerial moves. None of this is a knock on Monheim, who is a highly regarded transit executive with decades of experience around the world. Nor is it a knock on Fernandez, a former commissioner of Chicago’s airport authority who has worked at transit agencies in Chicago and Washington. The MTA may be leaner than ever. Walder and Lhota cut a combined $900 million in annual expenses. But it’s still an authority where at times, you can still get one working executive for the price of two.

Back Dues Claim Against Supervisors

Back Dues Claims Against Supervisors Are Court-Ordered   December 26, 2012 Judge Rules Supervisors Must Pay Back Dues Owed to TWU Local 100 In September, TWU Local 100 began filing in Small Claims Court to collect back dues from former members who took promotions to supervision.  The first hearings were on December 20 and the judge ruled in TWU 100's favor.  He awarded the Union the full amount each person owed, plus he ordered the three supervisors involved to pay interest and court costs.   With these first hearings concluded, and the validity of the Union's claim confirmed, TWU Local 100 will pursue collecting all back dues owed by anyone who went to supervision still owing dues.  Anyone who owes back dues and calls the TWU Local 100 Dues Office (212-873-6000, ext  2080 or 2161) to arrange a payment schedule, can save themselves the interest and court costs that will be imposed if the matter has to go to court.   TWU Local 100 has always maintained that the payment of union dues is a moral obligation for anyone who benefits from the wages, pick rights, health care, and other gains won by the Union over the years.  Now a judge has ruled that it's a legal obligation, too.

HAPPY HOIDAYS

This holiday season has made me reflect on a lot of things including family and friends. Oh how blessed we are to have such interactions. As a Transit worker, we all can relate to the insensitivity of the careers we have chosen when it comes to spending time with loved ones.  To my co-workers whom I abraded, I am truly sorry. To my friends whom I consider family  it's been a long time and I miss y'all.  To everybody Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy Kwanza.  Happy New years.