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Don't lose your valuables on the subway

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer and amNY.com
More stories | MNaanes@am-ny.com

December 14, 2007

Misplacing valuables like a diamond earring or wallet stuffed with money in the city transit system may mean losing them forever, according to MTA Inspector General reports released Thursday, which found that less than one in five commuters are reunited with their lost item.

As part of a year-long probe, auditors tested New York City Transit's lost and found procedures by handing over 26 items - including cell phones and cameras - that they claimed commuters left behind. Only three of those items made it to the Lost Property Unit.

In another probe, auditors tracked 10,000 lost articles received by the unit and found less than half got there within 10 days of being turned in to transit employees. About 13 percent took more than a month to reach the unit.

"Some of these were articles of importance to the owners, such as eyeglasses, a foreign passport and a backpack with school books," the report said. The investigations went on to find that some items, particularly valuables, never made it to the unit.

Auditors also found several years' worth of passports in unlocked file cabinets in the unit, according to the reports. Transit officials have since sent the documents to the State Department.

In an average year, more than 8,000 items are turned into the Lost Property Unit, the clearinghouse where commuters are directed in search of property they lost in the subways and trains.

The Inspector General's reports make more than two dozen recommendations, including training staff on how to safeguard lost valuables and better record keeping.

NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said that the agency has already begun implementing many of those recommendations or plan to do so. For example, subway officials have begun tracking the chain of custody items go through before reaching the Lost Property Unit.