A homeless man wearing an NJ Transit jacket and appearing to be drunk was captured on camera swigging from a bottle of vodka between directing buses into a parking lot on a busy Midtown Manhattan street.

NJ Transit says the man doesn’t work for the agency, but footage by News 4 New York showed a now-suspended NJ Transit bus driver, who sometimes directed the buses, using the man as a stand-in while he got some shut-eye outside the bus parking lot on West 37th Street.

The homeless man, who told the TV station his name is Hector Santiago and said he is an alcoholic, held up a bottle of vodka, looked into the camera and said "In the name of God" before taking a swig.

A homeless man wearing an NJ Transit jacket was captured on camera swigging from a bottle of vodka between directing buses into a parking lot on a busy Midtown Manhattan street.

At other times, he was seen wavering as he dangled an orange flag, then leaving to go to a nearby liquor store.

Santiago told the TV station that NJ Transit bus operator driver Max Carames was a longtime acquaintance who let him direct traffic.

Carames, a 24-year employee, has been disciplined, officials said.

"The bus operator seen in this video has been immediately suspended pending the outcome of our full investigation," NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said. "Mr. Santiago has never been an NJ Transit employee. The safety of our customers, our employees and property is paramount at NJ Transit, and we take these matters seriously. All employees working at the bus storage location have been directed on this issue. Nobody should be on our property who’s not an authorized Transit employee."

Neighborhood resident and lifelong Manhattanite Sean-Patrick Hillman contacted News 4 after an astonishing discovery several months ago, while heading home with his wife in a cab.

Traffic came to a standstill three quarters of a block from their apartment on West 37th Street, he recalled.

"Then I see our neighborhood homeless guy, wearing an NJ Transit jacket and NJ Transit hat, directing traffic," Hillman told The Star-Ledger today. "I said, wait a minute, this is a nightmare screaming to happen."

He said he made several complaints to NJ Transit’s customer service department that fell on deaf ears.

Hillman said Santiago is a "nice man," but is in no condition to direct 20-ton buses on a street that has pedestrians and other vehicles.

He said he watched one day as Santiago failed to pay attention and waved through a bus that nearly struck a woman crossing the street.

"If the guy directing traffic can barely stand up, that’s not a guy who should be directing traffic," Hillman said. "This is poor judgment, and it’s completely preventable. This could have turned into something really scary and really bad — especially when you consider it’s on the approach to one of the busiest arteries in the city."

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