Besides cars and a limited railway, buses are the primary means of transportation around Staten Island.

Buses are also one of the major ways to commute into Manhattan, which Filippa Grisafi has been doing for 35 years.

What You Need To Know

  • Amalgamated Transit Union Local 726 says the MTA has cut overtime for mechanics and operators so buses don't get fixed, leaving drivers without buses and riders waiting

  • The union and riders say even buses that go out sometimes don't have air conditioning or are infested with roaches

  • According to the MTA, it is running service near 97% and that most of the mechanical issues are seasonal and spike during the summer because it's related to air conditioning

“You can join my page and you’ll see every single day riders are waiting 45 minutes to an hour every single day. Buses are bypassing them because they’re full,” Grisafi, who runs a Facebook page dedicated to riders’ complaints, said. “Buses with no air conditioning.”

The union that represents MTA workers on Staten Island, Amalgamated Transit Union, says the MTA isn’t fixing mechanical issues, leaving operators with no buses to drive.

Video obtained exclusively by NY1 shows bus operators at the Yukon Depot just waiting around. The union says up to 300 buses out of 800 on the Island can sometimes be out of service.

“They cut all the overtime for bus operators, all the overtime for mechanics,” ATU Local 726 President Dan Cassella said. “What does that mean? The buses that are behind us are just sitting there.”

Casella says yet the MTA tells customers something else in their service alerts.

“We are running as much service as we can with the operators we have available,” Cassella said, reading one of the alerts, then pointing to the picture of his members waiting at the depot. “Here’s the bus operators available.”

It’s unclear whether it’s related to a memo sent out by former Transit President Rich Davey in April putting a moratorium on all unbudgeted overtime.

New York City Transit Vice President of Buses Frank Annicaro says it’s more of a seasonal problem.

“Certain locations may have issues with equipment, defects may be greater during certain times, for example, during the heat. Hottest summer on record, defects surge,” Annicaro said. “We continue to provide robust service to our passengers, 93, 94, 95% service delivery every day.”

But the quality of service is also an issue.

State Assemblyman Michael Tanousis says his sister had a bad experience on an express bus, which does not have windows to open.

“They got stuck in the tunnel in massive traffic with no air conditioning one of the passengers almost passed out. The bus driver actually had to take off the top of the bus,” he said.

Conditions also affect operators, including roach infestations.

One operator took video of a roach trap on his bus. He spoke to NY1 but did not want to be identified.

“My experience is that the job every year there’s always something getting a little worse. It doesn’t get better,” the operator said.

According to officials, it will get worse as the Meredith Bus Depot is slated to close by the end of the year. It’s the only one that they say functions properly.

Officials said they worry that adding more buses to the other three depots will only cause more problems.