Elevator Inspector Caught 'Working' Simultaneous Shifts
By ARI PAUL
A Department of Buildings Elevator Inspector has been arrested on charges that he skipped shifts there to perform overtime work for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority while submitting timesheets that got him paid by both agencies, the Department of Investigation announced Sept. 25.

ROBERT D. LiMANDRI: 'Elevator guy gave us the shaft.'

Edward Holihan has worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 27 years and began working a day shift for the DOB in 2004. Between March and September 2007, he claimed to be working for both agencies during the same hours. A DOI investigation found that he had only been working for the MTA during 124 hours for which he was paid by the Buildings Department.

Down to 1 Job and Counting

Mr. Holihan, who earns an MTA salary of $59,088, had received $3,524 in DOB payments for work hours he had falsely logged, the DOI alleged. He was arrested on charges of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree and Official Misconduct, and he has pleaded guilty to charges of Disorderly Conduct.

Mr. Holihan was ordered to pay back the money he improperly received and fined $250. He still faces MTA disciplinary charges, and was forced to resign his DOB job.

"The Department of Buildings uncovered the misconduct, and we have worked closely with the Department of Investigation to ensure his surrender and arrest today," said DOB Commissioner-designate Robert LiMandri in a statement. "As a precaution, every elevator recently assigned to this inspector has been re-inspected. By the end of the year, our inspectors will begin to receive state-of-the-art hand-held computers, which will confirm an inspector's presence at a site through the use of global positioning system technology."