NYC Transit Class Action Filed Over Penn Station ‘Summer of Hell’

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Two New York City commuters have filed a class action lawsuit against Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and New York City Transit over the chaos and delays caused by track work that will take place at Penn Station.

Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the six weeks of track work will cause a “summer of hell” for commuters, who already struggle with delays, cancellations and other transit disruptions. The track work is scheduled to begin July 10.

Long Island plaintiffs Meredith Jacobs and Fred Lee filed the Penn Station class action lawsuit Saturday in New York State Supreme Court in Mineola. They allege the train delays and cancellations have led to overcrowding and dangerous situations and claim LIRR has failed “to provide passengers with any semblance of comfort or safety.”

The overcrowding has allegedly increased the risk of commuters falling onto the train tracks. In addition, commuters are reportedly forced to stand in train vestibules and bathrooms due to the overcrowding. Some riders allegedly have been disciplined at work because of commute-related lateness and are suffering from stress that affects their quality of life.

The plaintiffs claim these issues are caused by the defendants’ negligence and constitute a breach of contract of carriage. They also allege the delays and cancellations have inflicted emotional distress.

LIRR reportedly transports more than 230,000 passengers through Penn Station each day. To compensate for the overcrowding problems, many commuters have been using NYC Transit, causing those to become clogged as well.

Jacobs and Lee hope that the Penn Station class action lawsuit will lead the defendants to come up with strategies to fix the deficiencies prior to the track work scheduled to begin next month, which will reportedly cut rush-hour service. Their attorney Paul Liggieri of Derek Smith Law Group PLLC says that filing this class action lawsuit is “the only way the MTA is going to answer for anything.”

An MTA board member has suggested that many of the breakdowns and delays at Penn Station were related to Amtrak’s decades of deferred maintenance and believes that litigation will not help the issues.

The plaintiffs filed the LIRR class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and anyone who had a monthly pass in May. They are seeking damages, attorneys’ fees, and refunds for the monthly LIRR passes. Thousands of commuters may be eligible to participate as Class Members if the court grants Class certification.

“In the month of May … there was a pattern and practice by the LIRR of constant cancellations and delays and overall headaches,” attorney Paul Liggieri said. “Monthly card holders are people who ride the rail every single day and expect a certain level of service, most of which is to carry them to and from work and that’s how they earn their livelihood.”

In March, Liggieri filed a lawsuit on behalf of a man who says he was wearing a Make America Great Again hat and was allegedly refused service at The Happiest Hour bar in the West Village. That lawsuit asserts claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, discrimination and other violations of New York law.