New York
Newark Delays Persist as Union Official Says Controllers Briefly Lost Contact With Planes
Air traffic controllers briefly lost communication with planes at Newark Liberty International Airport last week, according to the workers’ union, a revelation that came as travel disruptions there extended into a second week.
Galen Munroe, a spokesman for the union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that on April 28, controllers in a Philadelphia air traffic control center who are responsible for separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control,” and were “unable to see, hear, or talk to them.”
He did not say how long the disruption lasted, but Bloomberg reported it was 90 seconds.
The communication breakdown led to hundreds of delays and cancellations and three dozen flight diversions that day, according to Aidan O’Donnell, the general manager of New Jersey airports at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He added that for two hours that afternoon, no flights departed from or landed at Newark.
As a result of the loss of communication, Mr. Munroe said, controllers took absences under a law that allows federal workers who are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job to leave work. They did not “‘walk off the job’ as it has been reported by the media,” Mr. Munroe said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged in a statement on Monday that “our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our work force.” It said it was working to ensure that telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area.
“Frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful for controllers,” the F.A.A. said.
Some of the controllers in Philadelphia who help to coordinate arrivals and departures at Newark “have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages,” the agency added. “While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace.”
The disclosure comes as one of Newark’s three runways has been closed for construction and as air traffic control centers nationwide have experienced staffing shortages. United said last week that it was forced to cut 35 round-trip flights per day from its Newark schedule.
Low clouds on Monday prompted the F.A.A. to pause departures of planes heading to Newark, leading to delays averaging four hours and exacerbating the travel chaos at one of the nation’s busiest airports. More than 300 flights into and out of Newark had been delayed and more than 150 had been canceled by Monday afternoon, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
At the main United terminal at Newark on Monday, travelers whose flights had been canceled expressed frustration with being directed to online customer service agents.
Phyllis Dotzen Rod said she was hoping to fly home to Myrtle Beach, S.C., after visiting her son in Manhattan, but her flight was canceled after she arrived at the airport. Her son was leaving for Asia and she was not sure what to do, she said.
“I’m stressed right now,” Ms. Dotzen Rod said as she waited in line at a help desk at Terminal C that closed just as she got to the front of the line. “Now I don’t know where else to go.”
Adding to her frustration, she said, she had been given a voucher for a meal and a hotel, but could not figure out how to get it to appear on her phone.
Judith Davis, whose flight home to Columbus, Ohio, was canceled because of the bad weather, said she had waited for 45 minutes on the phone for a customer service agent. She was among the travelers desperately searching for alternative flights at Terminal C on Monday.
“I’m very upset; I need to get back today,” Ms. Davis said, expressing frustration with the lack of help in the terminal. “You’re kind of left to your own to try to figure it out.”
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York on Monday called for the Office of the Inspector General to investigate the problems at Newark, saying a “real forensic look” into safety issues and outdated technology was needed.
“To say that there is just minor turbulence at Newark Airport and the F.A.A. that would be the understatement of the year,” Mr. Schumer, the minority leader, said at a news conference. “We’re here because the F.A.A. is really a mess.”
He said the problems at Newark could be a “harbinger, if issues like these aren’t fixed.” He blamed mismanagement at the F.A.A. and cuts imposed by the Trump administration for the staffing issues, and warned that the nation’s other airports could experience similar problems if they are not addressed.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Airport as well as Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports in New York, said in a statement on Monday that staffing shortages at air traffic control centers were to blame.
“The Port Authority has invested billions to modernize Newark Liberty, but those improvements depend on a fully staffed and modern federal air traffic system,” the Port Authority said. “We continue to urge the F.A.A. to address ongoing staffing shortages and accelerate long-overdue technology upgrades that continue to cause delays in the nation’s busiest air corridor.”
In a statement on Friday, Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United Airlines, Newark’s largest carrier, attributed recent flight cancellations to equipment failures and said that 20 percent of air traffic controllers at the airport had “walked off the job.”
As a result, he added, there were “dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans.”
About 68 percent of the more than 3,300 scheduled departures at Newark this week were sold by United, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.
Paul Rinaldi, a former president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association who is now a senior vice president of operations and safety at Airlines for America, a trade organization, said the systems controllers rely on have not been working “at an optimal level.”
“The issue is a lack of confidence by the controllers in the systems because of the interruptions they have had over the last eight months or so,” he said.
Last week, Sean Duffy, the U.S. transportation secretary, announced a series of incentives that he said would “supercharge the air traffic controller work force,” including $5,000 payments to new hires and academy graduates who successfully complete the initial qualification training.
On Monday, Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey wrote Mr. Duffy in support of that plan. “Decades of underinvestment in the maintenance of critical air traffic control infrastructure, delays in upgrading to modern 21st-century air traffic control technology, and inadequate air traffic control staffing have resulted in a frail system nationwide,” Mr. Murphy wrote.
It was not clear when the delays at Newark Airport would clear up, and bad weather was likely to contribute to the headaches for travelers at Newark as well as at the other metro-area airports.
A Delta spokesman said that the airline had canceled three regional round-trip flights at Newark because of air traffic control constraints. Passengers on those flights were automatically rebooked on flights at LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports.
But those airports were also affected by the weather. Inbound and outgoing flights at LaGuardia were experiencing delays of about an hour because of low clouds.
The clouds and rain may limit flights in and out of the region until midweek. Rain may increase in intensity on Monday, with some thunderstorms also possible. The chance of showers will linger into Wednesday.
Judson Jones and Niraj Chokshi contributed reporting.
Every week since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has published stories by, and for, New Yorkers of all ages and eras (no matter where they live now): anecdotes and memories, quirky encounters and overheard snippets that reveal the city’s spirit and heart.
For the past four years, we’ve asked for your help picking the best Diary entry of the year. Now we’re asking again.
We’ve narrowed the field to the five finalists here. Read them and vote for your favorite. The author of the item that gets the most votes will receive a print of the illustration that accompanied it, signed by the artist, Agnes Lee.
The voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21. You can change your vote as many times as you’d like until then, but you may only pick one. Choose wisely.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Two Stops
Dear Diary:
It was a drizzly June night in 2001. I was a young magazine editor and had just enjoyed what I thought was a very blissful second date — dinner, drinks, fabulous conversation — with our technology consultant at a restaurant in Manhattan.
I lived in Williamsburg at the time, and my date lived near Murray Hill, so we grabbed a cab and headed south on Second Avenue.
“Just let me out here,” my date said to the cabby at the corner of 25th Street.
We said our goodbyes, quick and shy, knowing that we would see each other at work the next day. I was giddy and probably grinning with happiness and hope.
“Oh boy,” the cabby said, shaking his head as we drove toward Brooklyn. “Very bad.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in horror.
“He doesn’t want you to know exactly where he lives,” the cabby said. “Not a good sign.”
I spent the rest of the cab ride in shock, revisiting every moment of the date.
Happily, it turned out that my instinct about it being a great date was right, and the cabby was wrong. Twenty-four years later, my date that night is my husband, and I know that if your stop is first, it’s polite to get out so the cab can continue in a straight line to the next stop.
Ferry Farewell
Dear Diary:
On a February afternoon, I met my cousins at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Their spouses and several of our very-grown children were there too. I brought Prosecco, a candle, a small speaker to play music, photos and a poem.
We were there to recreate the wedding cruise of my mother, Monica, and my stepfather, Peter. They had gotten married at City Hall in August 1984. She was 61, and he, 71. It was her first marriage, and his fourth.
I was my mother’s witness that day. It was a late-in-life love story, and they were very happy. Peter died in 1996, at 82. My mother died last year. She was 100.
Peter’s ashes had waited a long time, but finally they were mingled with Monica’s. The two of them would ride the ferry a last time and then swirl together in the harbor forever. Cue the candles, bubbly, bagpipes and poems.
Two ferry workers approached us. We knew we were in trouble: Open containers and open flames were not allowed on the ferry.
My cousin’s husband, whispering, told the workers what we were doing and said we would be finished soon.
They walked off, and then returned. They said they had spoken to the captain, and they ushered us to the stern for some privacy. As the cup of ashes flew into the water, the ferry horn sounded two long blasts.
Unacceptable
Dear Diary:
I went to a new bagel store in Brooklyn Heights with my son.
When it was my turn to order, I asked for a cinnamon raisin bagel with whitefish salad and a slice of red onion.
The man behind the counter looked up at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t do that.”
Teresa
Dear Diary:
It was February 2013. With a foot of snow expected, I left work early and drove from New Jersey warily as my wipers squeaked and snow and ice stuck to my windows.
I drove east on the Cross Bronx Expressway, which was tied up worse than usual. Trucks groaned on either side of my rattling Toyota. My fingers were cold. My toes were colder. Got to get home before it really comes down, I thought to myself.
By the time I got home to my little red bungalow a stone’s throw from the Throgs Neck Bridge, the snow was already up to my ankles.
Inside, I took off my gloves, hat, scarf, coat, sweater, pants and snow boots. The bed, still unmade, was inviting me. But first, I checked my messages.
There was one from Teresa, the 92-year-old widow on the corner.
“Call me,” she said, sounding desperate.
I looked toward the warm bed, but … Teresa. There was a storm outside, and she was alone.
On went the pants, the sweater, the coat, the scarf, the boots and the gloves, and then I went out the door.
The snow was six inches deep on the sidewalks, so I tottered on tire tracks in the middle of the street. The wind stung my face. When I got to the end of the block, I pounded on her door.
“Teresa!” I called. No answer. “Teresa!” I called again. I heard the TV blaring. Was she sprawled on the floor?
I went next door and called for Kathy.
“Teresa can’t answer the door,” I said. “Probably fell.”
Kathy had a key. In the corner of her neat living room, Teresa, in pink sweatpants and sweaters, was sitting curled in her armchair, head bent down and The Daily News in her lap.
I snapped off the TV.
Startled, she looked up.
“Kathy! Neal!” she said. “What’s a five-letter word for cabbage?”
Nice Place
Dear Diary:
When I lived in Park Slope over 20 years ago, I once had to call an ambulance because of a sudden, violent case of food poisoning.
Two paramedics, a man and a woman, entered our third-floor walk-up with a portable chair. Strapping me in, the male medic quickly inserted an IV line into my arm.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his partner circling around and admiring the apartment.
“Nice place you’ve got here.” she said. “Do you own it?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, all but unconscious.
Once I was in the ambulance, she returned to her line of inquiry.
“Do you mind me asking how much you paid for your apartment?”
“$155,000,” I croaked.
“Wow! You must have bought during the recession.”
“Yeah” I said.
They dropped me off at Methodist Hospital, where I was tended to by a nurse as I struggled to stay lucid.
At some point, the same medic poked her head into the room with one last question:
“You wouldn’t be wanting to sell any time soon, would you?”
Illustrations by Agnes Lee.
‘Part of the job’
Edwin Guity was at the controls of a southbound D train last December, rolling through the Bronx, when suddenly someone was on the tracks in front of him.
He jammed on the emergency brake, but it was too late. The man had gone under the wheels.
Stumbling over words, Mr. Guity radioed the dispatcher and then did what the rules require of every train operator involved in such an incident. He got out of the cab and went looking for the person he had struck.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Guity said later. “But this is a part of the job.”
He found the man pinned beneath the third car. Paramedics pulled him out, but the man died at the hospital. After that, Mr. Guity wrestled with what to do next.
A 32-year-old who had once lived in a family shelter with his parents, he viewed the job as paying well and offering a rare chance at upward mobility. It also helped cover the costs of his family’s groceries and rent in the three-bedroom apartment they shared in Brooklyn.
But striking the man with the train had shaken him more than perhaps any other experience in his life, and the idea of returning to work left him feeling paralyzed.
Edwin Guity was prescribed exposure therapy after his train struck a man on the tracks.
Hundreds of train operators have found themselves in Mr. Guity’s position over the years.
And for just as long, there has been a path through the state workers’ compensation program to receiving substantive treatment to help them cope. But New York’s train operators say that their employer, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has done too little to make them aware of that option.
After Mr. Guity’s incident, no official told him of that type of assistance, he said. Instead, they gave him the option of going back to work right away.
But Mr. Guity was lucky. He had a friend who had been through the same experience and who coached him on getting help — first through a six-week program and then, with the assistance of a lawyer, through an experienced specialist.
The specialist prescribed a six-month exposure therapy program to gradually reintroduce Mr. Guity to the subway.
His first day back at the controls of a passenger train was on Thanksgiving. Once again, he was driving on the D line — the same route he had been traveling on the day of the fatal accident.
M.T.A. representatives insisted that New York train operators involved in strikes are made aware of all options for getting treatment, but they declined to answer specific questions about how the agency ensures that drivers get the help they need.
In an interview, the president of the M.T.A. division that runs the subway, Demetrius Crichlow, said all train operators are fully briefed on the resources available to them during their job orientation.
“I really have faith in our process,” Mr. Crichlow said.
Still, other transit systems — all of which are smaller than New York’s — appear to do a better job of ensuring that operators like Mr. Guity take advantage of the services available to them, according to records and interviews.
A Times analysis shows that the incidents were on the rise in New York City’s system even as they were falling in all other American transit systems.
An Uptick in Subway Strikes
San Francisco’s system provides 24-hour access to licensed therapists through a third-party provider.
Los Angeles proactively reaches out to its operators on a regular basis to remind them of workers’ compensation options and other resources.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has made it a goal to increase engagement with its employee assistance program.
The M.T.A. says it offers some version of most of these services.
But in interviews with more than two dozen subway operators who have been involved in train strikes, only one said he was aware of all those resources, and state records suggest most drivers of trains that strike people are not taking full advantage of them.
“It’s the M.T.A.’s responsibility to assist the employee both mentally and physically after these horrific events occur,” the president of the union that represents New York City transit workers, John V. Chiarello, said in a statement, “but it is a constant struggle trying to get the M.T.A. to do the right thing.”
new video loaded: Protesters Arrested After Trying to Block a Possible ICE Raid
transcript
transcript
Protesters Arrested After Trying to Block a Possible ICE Raid
Nearly 200 protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving a parking garage in Lower Manhattan on Saturday. The confrontation appeared to prevent a possible ICE raid nearby, and led to violent clashes between the police and protesters.
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[chanting] “ICE out of New York.”
By Jorge Mitssunaga
November 30, 2025
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