Pay To Guard Strays

If you’ve recently had trouble finding a black cab on your way home from Wall Street, it could be because Con Ed has taken them all:

Con Ed workers are angry that the utility is hiring livery drivers to warn people away from electrically charged streetlights, manholes and other equipment.

As part of a program to seek out deadly street-level electricity leaks, a Con Ed contractor pays the drivers to park by hot spots and ensure that people don’t touch them before a repair crew arrives.

. . .

Local 1-2 [of the Utility Workers of America] complained to the state Public Service Commission weeks ago, citing the case of a livery driver who sat for more than a day and fell asleep — at $35 an hour — in front of a Flushing, Queens, pay phone that was leaking electricity.

The drivers, meanwhile, are thankful for the work, said Fernando Mateo of the state Federation of Taxi Drivers, adding that “it opens up a whole new industry for us.”