MTA already blew overtime budget by $176M as 1K workers raked in more from extra pay than base salaries

Nearly 1,000 MTA workers raked in more overtime than they did from their base salaries last year, records showed — as the agency has already overspent this year’s OT budget by a whopping $176 million. The cash-hungry Metropolitan Transportation Authority spent nearly $764 million on overtime in the first six months of the year, putting it on pace to break the overtime record of nearly $1.5 billion set in 2025, according to finance documents presented at a committee meeting Monday.Overtime became such a burden on the transit agency’s spending that it climbed to about 23% of MTA salaries through the first three months of the year.MTA officials blamed the runaway spending on unfilled jobs and the need for staffing backup, the documents showed.“Overtime can sometimes be more cost-effective than having a higher headcount – for example for responding to extreme weather events – but that’s not always the case,” a spokesperson for the MTA said.MTA subsidiary New York City Transit saved $97 million on salaries because of unfilled jobs — then spent $141 million more than planned on overtime.The transit agency had 2,868 unfilled jobs by the end of June.Its total operating budget for 2026 is $21.3 billion.“That’s mismanagement to the highest degree,” Zilvinas Silenas, president of Empire Public Policy Center, told The Post.

“I don’t believe in a city of 10 million people they can’t find enough people to work at the MTA.”The MTA is a government-created public benefit corporation supported by taxes and its own revenue streams.Spending records show Luis Miranda, a Bridges and Tunnels lieutenant, collected $89,560 in overtime in the first three months of 2026 — more than any other MTA employee — on top of $36,193 he earned in regular pay.Miranda’s pay reached $128,644 by March 31, putting him on pace to beat his 2025 earnings of $382,583, when he raked in $219,064 in overtime.John Anastasatos, a Bridges and Tunnels sergeant, earned $78,520 in...