Three railroad employees have been suspended without pay for creating a "man cave" underneath New York's famous Grand Central Terminal
The room contained a wall-mounted TV connecting to a streaming service, a futon couch, a fridge, a microwave and an air mattress.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) inspector Carolyn Pokorny said in a statement on Thursday the room must have taken "chutzpah" to use.
"Many a New Yorker has fantasized about kicking back with a cold beer in a prime piece of Manhattan real estate- especially one this close to good transportation," she wrote.
"But few would have the chutzpah to commandeer a secret room beneath Grand Central Terminal and make it their very own man cave sustained with MTA resources, and maintained at our riders' expense."
The MTA said there is an "overwhelming" amount of evidence that three employees: a wireman, a carpenter foreman and an electrical foreman used the unauthorised break room several times. It's unclear if employees used the room while they were on the clock.
According to tThe room has been called "extremely dangerous".he report the room was anonymously reported in February 2019. The complainant alleged the three workers would "hang out, get drunk and party" in the room. A second complaint was made in June and both were handed to the Metro-North Railroad security department to investigate - but the MTA found the complaints were never looked into.
"The behaviour described in the report is outrageously inappropriate and is not consistent with Metro-North's values," said Metro-North Railroad president Catherine Rinaldi.
The three workers will face disciplinary hearings for their actions, which have been called "extremely dangerous" by the Metro-North Railroad Fire Brigade.
"The risks associated with employees hiding in that room with the door locked create a variety of hazards including the inability of rescue personnel to quickly access the room."
