1999: In a published report, the Organized Crime Task Force alleges that mob boss John "Junior" Gotti engaged in a kickback scheme involving public money paid to Atlantic Express by the Board of Education. [CORRECTION: A 1999 published report of the state Organized Crime Task Force did not allege that public money or Board of Education funds were included in a kickback scheme that involved an employee of the Atlantic Express bus company. A Viewpoints article by [Larry Hanley], published Thursday, mischaracterized the allegation. Pg. A02 Q 7/25/01]

Atlantic Express is one of many private bus companies that pay bus drivers about $8 an hour. This means that the base annual wage is about $25,000 for an average workday consisting of more than 12 hours. Many drivers work seven days a week to push their wages above the poverty level. Many former and current employees of Atlantic and other bus companies have told me that they routinely exceed the legal limits for daily and weekly hours of bus driving.

The owners of Atlantic Express, on the other hand, live quite a different life. The total compensation for company president Domenic Gatto approaches a million dollars a year, according to Securities Exchange Commission reports. Most of that is public money from school bus and MTA contracts. Gatto pays himself about six times the salary of the mayor but pays his workers less than a third of what a driver earns at a franchised private company. This pay discrepancy has safety implications for anyone who uses the streets of this city. By driving down the wages of bus drivers, the mayor and governor are guaranteeing that these drivers will operate buses well beyond the hours permitted by federal law to prevent fatigue.