School Crossing Guard Behaves Badly

At the corner of East 19th Street and Avenue Y, the crossing guard stationed there is not always, ummm, stationed there.

Children attending P.S. 254 can be seen crossing themselves, while the crossing guard sits in her parked car chatting on her cell phone. When this photo was taken, the crossing guard’s co-worker was chatting with her as she sat sheltered from the chilly temperature.  Just a few minutes after this photo was taken just before 8:40 a.m., she was seen driving off. That is more than 20 minutes before her shift was officially over. It appears to be a regular occurrence, because during this investigation we observed her leaving early on numerous occasions.

One parent told us that since the crossing guard began manning the corner a few months ago, she has often been observed talking on the phone during work hours. Another parent said, “Why doesn’t the school do something about her? She leaves early and doesn’t pay attention to the kids. It’s not safe for these kids. We’re better off not even having a crossing guard here than someone who doesn’t do her job.” Since, school crossing guards are NYPD employees, the possibility exists that the message did not get to the 61st precinct.

Have any of you noticed the missing crossing guard at Avenue Y and East 19th Street? If so, did you complain about the problem and your complaints went unheard? Write in and let us know.

Correction: The original post incorrectly identified the corner as East 18th Street. The intersection where the crossing guard works is located at East 19th Street and Avenue Y.   Thanks to the readers for bringing this typo to our attention.