Railway workers suspended over Grand Central Station ‘man cave’

Three railway workers have been suspended for turning a storage room under Grand Central Station in New York into an unauthorised “man cave”.

It included a TV, fridge, microwave and futon, officials said on Thursday.

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) investigation found managers at Metro-North Railroad were unaware of the hideaway under Track 114.

Few would have the chutzpah to commandeer a secret room beneath Grand Central Terminal

MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny

“Many a New Yorker has fantasised 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 said in a news release.

“But few would have the chutzpah to commandeer a secret room beneath Grand Central Terminal.”

Three Metro-North employees – a wireman, a carpenter foreman and an electrical foreman – were suspended without pay pending disciplinary hearings.

The investigation began after the MTA’s office of the inspector general received an anonymous tip in February 2019 alleging there was a “man cave” under Grand Central with “a couch and a flatscreen TV” where three specific employees would “hang out and get drunk and party”.

Investigators found the room, which had wooden cabinets designed to conceal the TV and futon, according to the report.

Officials said the space presented a fire hazard because rescue workers would have had difficulty accessing an unmapped room.

Investigators said while they could not be certain the employees used the secret break room when they were supposed to be working, it appears likely that they did.