From the NY Post:School investigators are probing a veteran school custodian who owns 10 houses in Queens worth a combined $5.8 million -- and whose former employees contend they were paid with school funds to gut and renovate the homes.
Several workers also accuse Roosevelt HS campus custodian Trifon Radef -- paid more than $170,000 annually after 36 years of service for the Department of Education -- of splitting school funds with pals for whom he created no-show gigs.
They said he overhauled his bevy of Floral Park homes using "free" labor on weekends and with supplies intended for the school -- rather than investing any of his own hefty take-home pay.
"He renovated all these houses -- walls, ceilings, new bathrooms and kitchens -- and all the people who did the work are getting paid by the school," said a former worker. "We got a check every two weeks with the name of the school."
Asked about the probe this week, Radef claimed ignorance.
"Never heard anything about it," said Radef, whose take-home pay in 2009 topped $226,000 because of a contract agreement that granted custodians a bonanza in back pay.
But four current and former cleaners and handymen said the home renovations took place on weekends from as early as 2000 through 2009 and included electrical, plumbing and roof work, cabinet-making, painting and plastering.
They said the pay was at overtime levels -- as much as $30 per hour -- for up to 20 hours of work per weekend.
The men, some of whom have been laid off in recent budget cuts, said Radef also pays a worker at Truman HS in The Bronx to keep the Queens properties neatly landscaped.
A spokeswoman for the special commissioner of investigation confirmed the office is looking into Radef's dealings.
Radef lives in one of his 10 houses; the other nine are rented out as two- or three-family residences, according to city Department of Finance records.
They range in value from $449,000 to $659,000.
22 comments:
That is one hell of a real estate collection. This beats being a teacher by far. One doesn't need 6 years of college to become a NYC custodian right?..........
$226,000? Holy sh**! I want to get that job!
Take away his pension and seize those houses.
In my dreams, here comes another slap on the wrist.
If he was a teacher, a scandal be SCREAMING from the headlines of the Post and the Daily News. But he's a custodian, and boys, after all, will be boys. This crap has been going on MY ENTIRE TEACHING CAREER which is over 30 years (YEAH eat your heart out Joel and Mike I'm still teaching, assholes...) and only teachers are accountable for anything that goes on. This guy should go to the custodians' rubber room, but nothing like that exists. How about jail for stealing city workers and services? But only teachers are accountable, no one else.......I say a slap on the wrist, maybe a fine and then a wink and a nod. Custodians suck in many schools, and this is just another example. Investigate the high school custodians first, they have other businesses such as car repair going on right under the principal's nose and no one cares unless they "get caught".
Google NYC school custodians corruption inspector general report from the 1990s. This stuff has been going on for decades. Read about the lawyer custodian who did real estate for the corrupt Bronx judge. And it goes on and on and on.
This is going on in virtually every single NYC school. I guarantee the folks in the background at DOE are all in on it too. WHERE ARE THE INVESTIGATORS? Perhaps hey are in it to.
Another victory for union labor!!!
Lets hear it for scamming ourselves!
Good luck trying to get any satisfaction on this. These custodians are UNTOUCHABLE. Unless the Feds can bring an income tax rap on this crook (a'la Al Capone), he will likely retire very comfortably to Boca.
Talkin' about cleaning up!
The custodian is absolute SCUM; however, these workers knew they were doing the wrong thing too!
All his properties should be seized with the exception of the one he resides in. The properties should be sold and the proceeds should go back to the department of education. He should do jail time for theft of services. Will this happen? Of course not. This is one of the many reasons the city and state have no money. The taxpayers are the ones that pay for all this corruption. All custodial salaries should be frozen and evaluated and the custodial end should be privatized. I'll bet custodians who work for private corporations don't have a sweet deal like this.
Many years ago when I was a fresh-out-of-the-woods NYC HS teacher, I decided to open up the top windows from a stuffy over-heated classroom. The steam radiators were emitting so much heat that the students in the nearby desks were extremely uncomfortable. The principle happened to go buy while I was using the pole to yank down the fenestration by the ceiling. He told me to stop. The custodian had to do it. Contractual union rules.
Same thing for changing light bulbs. Union rules. So ridiculous!
"The principle happened to go buy while I was using the pole to yank down the fenestration by the ceiling. He told me to stop. The custodian had to do it. Contractual union rules."
THAT is absolute bullshit. Your pole yanking I believe though.
No way you were ever a teacher.
BTW: The head of a school is a "Principal" you must have spent enough time in his office to know that.
The principle happened to go buy while I was using the pole to yank down the fenestration by the ceiling.
"go buy" go buy what? a pole for yanking?
is not this scam similar to the crimes that former electrician's union leader B.McGlaughlin is serving time in prison for presently?
his members worked on his properties also.is not democrat,progressive dictatorship grand and profitable.
and local schmucks voted in the same political machine to keep stealing from the taxpayers in Queens and N.Y.C.
Congradulation. You past my testsis. Hew get an eh for prufreding.
Congradulation. You past my testsis. Hew get an eh for prufreding.
I'm confused now George. Did you get your pole yanked or what? Was the PrinciPAL hot?
And when is he going to jail, pray tell?
"Same thing for changing light bulbs. Union rules. So ridiculous!"
Those are safety issues, assholes! If you got hurt doing it you could sue up the wazoo, THAT'S why you can't do it!
a dept. of education senior custodian( not a janitor) with 36 years on the job could make $175,000 /year salary. he would get paid handsomely for keeping the building open at nights and weekends,locking and unlocking the school yard 7 days a week.they pay all their helpers from the building custodian's annual budget.
many have relatives on the payroll...
many d.o.e.officials
and teachers with 36 years service make more money than him, and they only work 180 days a year.
him and they only work 180 days a year.
Teacher salaries in NYC are not as high as the custodians in the position that this one is in. Teachers also incur a lot of debt in the form of student loans that custodians do not have to in order to keep their jobs. Teachers are also often put in the position of buying way more classroom supplies than they will ever be reimbursed for in order to properly do their jobs and create a nurturing environment for students. Check out this site for NYC salary information:
http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EDDB658C-BE7F-4314-85C0-03F5A00B8A0B/0/salary.pdf
While some teachers may only put in there 180 days, get to work exactly on time and leave at the very end of the day. Many more go above and beyond, which is partly the reason approximately half of all teachers leave after 5 years of teaching. It is a draining job and to do it well you need to invest more than the 180 days you are in the classroom with your students. That time is only what is documented as invested time. It's a real slap in the face that whatever else is invested adamantly goes unnoticed by so many.
An additional note:
I extend my gratitude and appreciation to those custodians who work their butts off to do their jobs well. It is always a pleasure to work with you. You make life at work so much easier. But to those that are only there to collect a paycheck, make doing parts of my job impossible and rarely lift a finger . . . I can't wait to see you go bye bye.
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