By Hank Russell
A recent report from The Empire Center for Public Policy found that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) paid out $1.46 billion in overtime last year, which was 8% higher than the year before. The report also found that 34 MTA employees made more than $200,000 in overtime.
Citing data from SeeThroughNY, the think tank found that “the MTA’s overtime champion” for the second year in a row was Bridges & Tunnels (B&T), with the top three making two to three times more in OT than their regular pay. Edwin Lee, a lieutenant with B&T, topped all OT earners with $359,794. In 2025, between his overtime and his regular pay, Lee earned $528,809 in that one year.
B&T Sergeant Orlando Caholo earned $334,002 in overtime last year, according to the Empire Center. Along with his regular pay of $131,091, he made $476,810 last year. Rounding out the top three was B&T Lieutenant Edward Aristizabal with $315,673 in OT in 2025. Added to his $153,226 salary, Aristizabal earned $479,443 last year.
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) employee who earned the most OT pay last year was Leonardo F. Espinosa. As a gang foreman with the LIRR, Espinosa brought home $244,954, as well as a salary of $129,483, bringing the grand total to $396,749. The Empire Center also found that LIRR employees averaged $32,988 in overtime, second to B&T ($53,626). Gang foremen, a maintenance title concentrated at LIRR, averaged $70,584 in OT, according to the think tank.
Further, the Empire Center found that, of the 801 MTA employees who collected more than $100,000 in overtime last year, 328 worked for the LIRR — the most of any MTA agency, ahead of the NYC Transit Authority (239), B&T (83), and Metro-North Railroad (76).
The think tank also reported that the LIRR payroll consisted of $219,041,567 in OT pay — a distant second to the NYC Transit Authority ($790,306,703). The LIRR was also second in average total pay with $127,808, behind B&T ($136,977), but twice the average salary of a city employee ($62,877).
Many elected officials have called for the MTA to rein in spending, especially when it comes to overtime pay. Long Island Life & Politics previously reported last year that Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) introduced a bill that would require a comprehensive forensic audit and a top-down overhaul of the MTA. Under the legislation, the MTA would be required to hire a certified, independent accounting firm to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit.
The audit, according to Ra and as reported by LILP, would have produced a report highlighting inefficiencies, redundancies and areas ripe for reform — laying the groundwork for long-overdue accountability. At the time, he pointed out that more than 300 MTA employees earned at least $100,000 in overtime in 2022, and 734 employees earned more in overtime than in regular pay.
The bill failed to advance to a full vote in the Assembly.
The Messenger also reported that state Senator Dean Murray (R-Patchogue) announced that he will introduce legislation in the upcoming session of the State Legislature to institute an MTA Financial Control Board.
The board would be mandated to vote in unanimous decisions so as to ensure a “broad consensus,” according to Murray. The board would have the authority to review and approve financing and construction projects proposed by the MTA, requiring prior approval before the MTA can enter into agreements or incur debt. Additionally, the board would be permitted to request information from State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to assess financial feasibility of proposals.
LIRR President Rob Free attributed the rising OT costs in his agency to the recent demands by unions to keep the work rules as is. “The unions have refused to change work rules that have exacerbated overtime and they went on strike to prevent common sense reform,” he said. “We regularly publish salary information in the interest of transparency and are committed to managing reductions in overtime that limit the financial burden on riders and taxpayers.”