Let's blow up a tour bus!!

If you were on a downtown tour on Sunday last... and had to make a detour around Water Street and Hanover Square... here is the reason. I helped Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock (as "THE OTHER GUYS") save NYC from the bad guys by trashing a double decker (in the photo: Big Decker Tours). All in a day's work....

TERRIFYING HELL UNDER TOUR BUS

I just realized the significance (or non-significance) of the headline (also the headline of this post) on the POST article about the pedestrian rundown over at the UN... This, of course, with the replacing of "under" with "on top of" can apply to a constantly recurring everyday, indeed, every tour situation. But I'm just being cynical. Really????

I WAS GETTING BORED WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO POST... (Did she have a ticket?)

Twin-decker pins woman in Midtown

By TOM LIDDY

Last Updated: 9:42 AM, October 13, 2009

Posted: 2:56 AM, October 13, 2009

A pleasant sightseeing tour around Midtown turned to horror with a simple turn of the wheel yesterday when a double-decker bus plowed into a woman crossing the street.

Lolaa Alrashied, struck just steps from the United Nations, was pinned under the bus and screaming in pain as shocked tourists looked on.

Alrashied had been rushing to cross as the bus, which had a green light, was turning onto 42nd Street.

"I was just on my way to the shower, and I heard cries," said Sean Bloch, 27, who lives nearby.

"I heard, 'Don't touch her! Don't move her!' She was screaming."

SEAN BLOCH

A passerby tries to comfort a woman who was run over and pinned by a double-deck tour bus in Midtown.

Alrashied was wedged face down under the frame of the Gray Line bus -- which had been turning left onto East 42nd Street -- between the front and back wheels. Her sunglasses were thrown a few feet and she was clutching her gold purse as she grimaced in pain just feet from the crosswalk.

Passers-by raced to her aide as the 20 horrified sightseers aboard the bus looked on. One Samaritan offered comfort to Alrashied.

"He was attentive to her," said Bloch, of the man who knelt by the woman's side and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Witnesses said the unwitting driver tried to move the bus while Alrashied was still pinned beneath it.

"The bus driver was trying to move the bus," Bloch said. "People were yelling, 'Stop moving the bus!' "

At that point, the driver, identified by sources as Rene Abrego, 61, ran out and tried to help, but was pushed away by a crowd that had formed around her.

"It took the tourists on the second [level] time to figure out what was going on," said Bloch, a filmmaker.

"The tourists were all in shock. They didn't even want to look. There was a mother who was shielding her daughter."

"They got more than they bargained for."

It wasn't clear whether the driver initially knew he had even hit someone.

Firetrucks and ambulances rushed to the scene, and rescuers carefully removed Alrashied from under the bus.

Medics placed her on a backboard and secured her neck with a brace before whisking her to Bellevue Hospital, where she was treated for leg fractures and trauma.

She was listed in serious condition.

No summonses were issued. Records indicate Abrego has a clean driving record.

"Gray Line is fully cooperating with the police and they wish the woman a full recovery," company spokeswoman Cristyne Nicholas said.

Additional reporting by Murray Weiss, Michelle Kaske, Tim Perone, Reuven Fenton and Jessica Simeone

tom.liddy@nypost.com

A WHOLE LOTTA SWEARIN' GOIN' ON!

This is what we actually came for... but where was the champagne?

No, there was NO champagne... not even a sneaky quick scotch behind one of the pillars...

This was a first attempt to get a group shot of the swearinginees...

But Stacy was too excited to enjoy herself...

But dancers are always excited...

Stop! In the name of LOVE! Get a load of Karen emulating Bella Abzug! Okay, some of you are too young to know who Bella Abzug was... let's just say she was in the trenches with Mike Quill...

Every swearing-in needs an agitator...

And Mensan did his part...

And James was on his way up...

Andy and Stuart contemplated something on the other side of the room... probably me as I left early... I came home to post this stuff to the blog...

YOU ARE INVITED

TWU LOCAL 225 swearing in ceremony for union officers

Taking the oath of office

Karen Fleming President

Richard Ventola Vice-President

Anthony Celeste Secretary-Treasurer

Andy Sydor Recording Secretary

Mensan Kinvi Executive Board Branch I

Max Carames Executive Board II

Todd McGue Executive Board III

Thursday October 1, 2009

12PM to 2PM

505 Eighth Avenue

between West 35^th Street

and West 36^th Street

New York, NY

Second Floor

All TWU Local 225 members are welcome to attend!

The building requires ID to enter

CLARIFICATION...

For all you guys who DON'T read between the lines... I didn't mean to insinuate that the concerns of ALL union members are not in many ways similar... of course we all want job security, decent wages, a safe work place and all that. When I stated that the concerns of NYU or NJ Transit or Shortline bus drivers are not the same as Grayline ticket agents and tour guides, I meant that (of course) we all have overlapping concerns as union members (I am in 4 unions). But besides those basic concerns, there seems to be a unique non-relationship between the workers of Grayline and the Grayline bosses. GL brass does not respect their employees or their customers. Shortline and NJ Transit bosses are somewhat (if perhaps not a great deal) more respectful of their workers and their public. I could be wrong, but GL management may be unique in the annals of the business world. Most business people are basically pigs, but most of them including the movie and TV producers (for whom I toil occasionally under the auspices of SAG and AFTRA), Broadway producers (whose workers are variously AEA, AFM and IATSE members), and transit authorities (TWU and Teamsters) have just a little bit of awareness of the needs of their customers and their workers. If TV and movie and theatre producers treated their workers and their public like GL treats their reason for being in business, those TV sets and movie theatres and Broadway playhouses would all go dark in three days.

LEST WE FORGET...

Let the new leadership remember... there are members of Local 225 who are NOT Grayline Tour Guides. The local represents NYU Drivers, employees of Shortline and employees of NJ Transit. Although the majority of non-Grayline workers voted for the status quo (ie: Carlos) let us reach out to them and remember this union represents them also. There are many varied interests at stake. The concerns of a NJ Transit driver are totally different from the concerns of a Grayline ticket agent. There may be a feeling that, under the previous administration, Grayline workers didn't get fair and equal representation, but let's remember NOT to swing the other way and leave the drivers out in the cold... they must believe that the new leadership works for them, also. This is a UNION... and don't forget it.

FROM JAMES MUESSIG...

The count was at union headquarters in Hackensack, NJ.

At 9:00 AM on Wednesday September 23, 2009 Andy Sydor and James Muessig took a bus from Port Authority out to Hackensack,NJ.

Present at the union headquarters were Carlos Padilla, the union president and Tony Celeste the union treasurer.

Three shop stewards from Gray Line, Short Line, and New Jersey Transit were also present. Traci Marlowe represented Gray Line.

Three mediators from the New Jersey Board of Mediation were also present. Also in the offices was the president of Local 226 which shares the space with our union, Local 225. The Local 225 office assistant was also there.

First thing, the union treasurer, Tony Celeste tried to kick me out of the office. He threatened to call the police. At that point I thought that we had a pretty good chance of winning the election. The mediators from New Jersey reached an accommodation. I could watch the count from the hallway through the doorway.

First the ballots from Gray Line in their mailing envelopes were put in numerical order. This guarantees that no one can "stuff the box" by adding ballots that were never mailed back by us. Gray Line employees were mailed 389 ballots. A total of 877 ballots were mailed to all companies in our union. Gray Line represented 44% of the ballots mailed out.

447 ballots were returned by all companies (Gray Line, New Jersey Transit, Short Line)

229 ballots from Gray Line this represents 51% of the total votes returned

98 ballots from New Jersey Transit this represents 22% of the total votes returned

120 ballots from Short Line this represents 27% of the total votes returned

Voter participation from the three companies breaks down like this:

59% of Grayline employees voted

104 Ticket Sellers voted

123 Tour Guides voted

2 NYU Drivers voted

The low return from NYU drivers is of concern because we learned that the NYU driver Shop Steward never received a ballot.That is a problem. When the Shop Steward is not receiving a ballot what chance does the membership have?

The votes from Branch 1 of Local 225 (Gray Line) resulted in Karen Fleming 176 votes, Carlos Padilla 53 votes, for president. Andy Sydor 196 votes, Richard Gruelich 31, votes for recording secretary. Mensan Kinvi 161 votes, Serge Gall 63 votes, for executive board... or Karen Fleming 77%, Carlos Padilla 23%, for president, Andy Sydor 86%, Richard Gruelich 14%, for recording secretary. Mensan Kinvi 71%, Serge Gall 29%, for executive board. After the count of Gray Line Karen Fleming was up 123 votes, Andy Sydor was up 165 votes, Mensan Kinvi had won by 98 votes.

At this point representatives of the International Union arrived to offer moral support to Carlos Padilla. International organizing representative Frank McCann asked me how everything was going and I proudly said Gray Line returned 60% of its vote. He remarked that was a very good return and then quickly added, "I have to get out of here soon." At that point Carlos Padilla's circle of friends was diminishing.

Branch 2 (New Jersey Transit) was counted next. 207 ballots were mailed. 98 were returned.

47% of New Jersey Transit drivers voted. This was a high turn out for New Jersey Transit. Karen and Andy's trips to New Jersey paid off. Karen Fleming 30 votes, Carlos Padilla 66 votes, Andy Sydor 50 votes, Richard Gruelich 39 votes, or Karen Fleming 31%, Carlos Padilla 69%, Andy Sydor 52%, Richard Gruelich 48%.

After the count of New Jersey Transit, Karen Fleming was up by 87 votes, Andy Sydor was up by 176 votes, Mensan Kinvi had won by 98 votes.

Carlos Padilla seemed to realize at that point that he had not won New Jersey Transit by enough votes to likely over come Karen Fleming's vote total. We did not yet know how many employees of Short Line had returned ballots.

Branch III (Short Line) was counted next. 120 Short Line employees returned ballots out of 285 mailed. This meant that Andy Sydor had mathematically locked a win. He was up 176 votes with only 120 votes left to count. 42% of Short Line employees returned ballots. This was Carlos Padilla's base. He is a former driver from Short Line.

Karen Fleming 31 votes, Carlos Padilla 89 votes, Andy Sydor 18 votes, Richard Gruelich 57 votes, or Karen Fleming 26%, Carlos Padilla 74%, Andy Sydor 15%, Richard Gruelich 85%.

The final result was that Karen Fleming won by 29 votes. Karen Fleming will be sworn in as the new president of TWU Local 225 in October. Andy won the post of Recording Secretary by 137 votes. Mensan Kinvi won his post on the Executive Board by 98 votes.

Interesting to note, as the New Jersey Mediator read off the vote counts every time there was a vote for Karen he would call it out with his voice rising as if he was excited. When he called a vote for Padilla he would lower his voice as if something bad had just happened. The tone of his voice made for a dramatic and exciting ballot count.

Karen won by 6.5% of the returned vote. That is a huge margin of victory for unseating an incumbent office holder. Andy won by a staggering 31% of the vote. Mensan won by an unbelievable 43% of the vote.

I hope this answers the questions.

Photos follow:

Thank you everyone who supported our candidates with your votes, money, and time.

Regards,

James Muessig

THE FUTURE...

It seems that Karen, Andy and Mensen have prevailed in the struggle to lead local 225. As Robert Redford says to Peter Boyle at the end of the last scene of "The Candidate"... What do we do now?

MYSTERIOUS JAPANESE COMMENT

To my loyal readers... somebody has been attempting to post a comment on this blog, but it is written either in Japanese, or in another version, Microsoft "Wing Dings" or some kind of computer gibberish. If you are the poster, or know who it is, please, let's have the comment in English so that it can be posted for all to see. Thanks to all of you.