Thomas C. Zambito

The Journal News

25 bar cart vendors have been told to look for other jobs. Two supervisors resigned.

The investigation by MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger hasn't been concluded

Dozens of Metro-North bar cart vendors have been told to look for other jobs, an indication the commuter rail will permanently shut down trackside beer and alcohol service suspended last year amid an MTA probe into missing funds, the Journal News/lohud.com has learned.

Twenty-five vendors have been furloughed, meaning they have the option of applying for other jobs on Metro-North. Several have been offered jobs as car cleaners, the Journal News has learned. Four have retired. They will not be paid unless they secure new positions.

The decision comes nearly two months after the Journal News/lohud.com was first to report that 18 commissary carts and two commissary counters were shut down while investigators from the MTA Inspector General’s office investigated a vendor’s complaint regarding missing funds.

BOOZE: Petition asks Metro-North to bring back booze carts

SHUTDOWN: Metro-North bar carts closed: Money missing

The bar cart vendors’ union representative said his members had nothing to do with the alleged thefts.

“They are all hard-working people supporting families,” said Jason Gennodie, the chairman of Transport Workers Union Local 2001 and a bartender. “This has absolutely destroyed people.”

Gennodie said the investigation centers on higher-ups accused of failing to pay vendors.

Probe continues

“I feel like it was more of an accounting issue than an issue with the bartenders,” Gennodie said. “Bartenders don’t pay the vendors.”

A spokesman for MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger declined to comment on the status of the investigation.

PENSION: Exclusive: Metro-North engineer in fatal Bronx derailment gets pension

CRASH: Bronx crash: Union head says Metro-North knew dangers

MTA officials say the agency has not made a decision on the bar carts' future.

“The investigation is ongoing," said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. "As such, no decision on the future of the commissary has been made.”

A decision to shut them down for good could be a costly one for Metro-North. Union officials say the carts generated between $7 million and $8 million in annual revenue.

Over time, they had become a cherished rush-hour perk for hurried commuters looking to grab a beer or beverage for the ride home. They held a special place among commuters.

“A lot of customers know the bartenders by name,” Gennodie said. “It’s been like a family. It is the only service that commuters really enjoy.”

Their absence during the Christmas holidays inspired the creation of a Twitter account — Bring Back Bar Carts — and an online petition drive that called on Metro-North to return the carts to Grand Central platforms. The petition has tallied 275 signatures.

“Bring back the bar carts,” one signer wrote. “Why punish the riders?”

Not everyone was a fan. Metro-North board member Mitchell Pally, a longtime critic of the bar carts, urged his colleagues to use the temporary shutdown to get rid of the carts altogether.

“Most if not all of their riders get off the train and then get in an automobile and drive home,” Pally told the Journal News/lohud.com in September. “You’re making it easier for them to get alcohol. It makes no sense.”

The bar carts were shut down the first week of December, ahead of the Christmas rush when bartenders typically see an uptick in tips.

“I want people to know that these are hardworking men and women who didn’t deserve this,” Gennodie said. “I feel like people were stripped of their soul. On December 6, life was fine. December 7 life was completely upended.”