Workers accused of building secret "man cave" under NYC's Grand Central Terminal
Three railway workers are suspended without pay for allegedly turning a storage room under New York's famed Grand Central Terminal into a secret "man cave," replete with creature comforts including a TV, refrigerator, microwave and futon, officials said Thursday.
Managers at Metro-North Railroad were not aware of the hideaway below the landmark train station, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority investigation found.
"Many a New York has fantasized about kicking back with a cold beer in a prime piece of Manhattan real estate — especially one this close to good transportation," MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny stated in a news release. "But few would have the chutzpah to commandeer a secret room beneath Grand Central Terminal."
The Metro-North workers — a wireman, carpenter foreman and an electrical foreman — have been suspended without pay pending disciplinary hearings.
The probe started with an anonymous tip in February 2019 alleging there was a "man cave" under Grand Central with a couch and flat-screen television where three employees would "hang out and get drunk and party."
Investigators then found the room under Track 114, which had been decked out with wooden cabinets made to hide the TV and futon, according to the report by the Office of the MTA Inspector General.
The space posed a significant health and safety risks, including the inability for rescue workers to quickly reach the room, officials said.
