Inspector Goes After Higher-Ups in the Albany Man-Cave Case

Those Albany "man cave" guys have been nailed and will be sentenced in January, but believe it or not their case is still causing trouble. Now inspector general Joseph Fisch wants action brought against three supervisors of former Office of General Services janitor Gary Pivoda and his direct superior Louis Marciano. That the supes -- Director of Plaza Operations Thomas Casey, Public Buildings Manager 4 Dennis Williams and former Chief Janitor William Liston -- didn't notice that Pivoda and Marciano did and dealt drugs and loafed in a makeshift break room they cooked up for themselves in the East Garage of Empire State Plaza is just part of the problem, says the IG:

Williams supervised Chief Janitor Liston, who supervised Marciano, who supervised Pivoda. But Liston was apparently not supervising much of anything. Williams heard there were problems with maintenance at the East Garage, which was his and Marciano's bailiwick, but despite this, Williams admitted to the IG "he had not been to the East Garage for at least the last two years." When quizzed about this, the IG says, "Williams, appearing insulted, asked in response, 'What could I do?'"

On those rare occasions when Williams tried to talk Liston around, the report says, Liston repeatedly threatened to quit, and when he did lean on Liston, the Chief Janitor went on Workman's Comp, claiming "stress."

Williams admitted trouble between "Marciano and some African American subordinates," which apparently included Marciano referring to crew members as "nigger" and "nigger bitch" and giving minority crew members a hard time at work. (When William Hill, a deputy property manager, went to meet the full crew in a break room, he was told that "the white guys" were over at East Garage.)

This evinces an "an utter break down in supervisory roles and functions at the Plaza," the IG reports. He seeks "appropriate administrative action against Casey, Williams and Liston."

Among the other interesting revelations in the report: Pivoda was found in possession of a key, unnecessary for his janitorial duties, that granted him "access to restaurants, stores, offices and even banks" in the Central Plaza -- especially disturbing as "Pivoda was convicted in 1991 of Burglary and served over four years in prison." Also Pivoda received "incentive" awards totaling $3,000 for timely performance on recommendations from Marciano, when Pivoda was in fact frequently absent or asleep (he allegedly spent 46 percent of his clock time mid-April through mid-July in the makeshift break room). A committee set up to review the awards "has never met and, as such, has never reviewed the effectiveness of the program."

The IG also alleges that, during one of Pivoda's shifts, he "was observed by the Inspector General drinking several glasses of beer at a nearby Albany bar."