Still on The Job. Despite his 2009 conviction for sexually abusing a Brooklyn woman doing community service in a park, APSW maintenance worker Michael Palamar is still employed as a supervisor at Tompkins Square Park. The city is being sued by the victim over the incident. (The woman worked in parks for just ten days) Shockingly, lawyers defending the city in the lawsuit over that incident could not say in open court whether Palamar was still on the payroll or not, according to the victim’s lawyer. (Photo: R. Umar Abbasi)
In 1982, a 17-year-old Palamar broke into the Rosedale, Queens, home of his next-door neighbor, 83-year-old Morris Rosenhaft and bludgeoned him to death with a bat during a botched burglary. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 16 years of a 25-year sentence before being paroled in 1999. He was back behind bars in 2001, pleading guilty in Manhattan to petit larceny and possession of stolen property.
After these convictions Palamar was able to get a job with the Parks Department. During his employment he has had numerous work issues including failing to report accidents in city vehicles he drove, not safeguarding equipment, and lying about finishing an assignment, according to Parks Department records.
The issue is compounded because for years the City's elected officials have refused to allocate proper resources for the Parks Department so the agency has relied on hiring personnel with questionable backgrounds.
And what exactly might cause the Parks Department not to hire a perspective employee? An agency spokesperson said last year that as long as the applicant "didn't exhibit anti-social or disruptive behavior during the hiring process we would decline to hire that person.”
Asleep at The Wheel. Incredibly the Parks Department said last week it is still “reviewing” Palamar’s 2009 conviction.
- Geoffrey Croft
Manhattan
How does this killer get a pass — and a city paycheck?
The city knowingly hired a deadly ex-con to patrol its parks, and again looked the other way when he groped a co-worker four years ago, The Post has learned.
Michael Palamar, 49, continues to collect his taxpayer-funded $56,988 annual salary as a maintenance worker in Tompkins Square Park, where The Post found him last week.
More than a year after The Post exposed the city Parks Department’s penchant for hiring people with unsavory criminal backgrounds, it’s clear the agency hasn’t learned its lesson.
Palamar had a body count before he was old enough to vote. He bludgeoned an elderly neighbor to death with a bat during a botched burglary when he was 17.
Despite his manslaughter conviction, Palamar landed a job in park maintenance in 2006. His bad behavior quickly returned — with him failing to report accidents in city vehicles he drove, not safeguarding equipment, and lying about finishing an assignment, according to Parks Department records obtained by The Post.
And he kept his job even after pleading guilty in March 2009 to sexually abusing a Brooklyn woman doing community service in Cooper Square.
The system is “thoroughly broken,” parks advocate Geoffrey Croft said. “How in God’s creation was this guy hired, and how is he able to keep his job?”
Incredibly, The Parks Department said last week it is still “reviewing” Palamar’s 2009 conviction.
And shockingly, lawyers defending the city in a lawsuit over that incident could not say in open court whether Palamar was still on the payrollor not, according to the victim’s lawyer.
“They did absolutely nothing to him. They did zero,” said the victim’s lawyer, Niall MacGiollabhui. “It’s insult upon injury.”
It’s not the first time the Parks Department has hired criminals only to see them return to their law-breaking ways.
Robert Swann was charged with murder for allegedly stabbing a co-worker at a Queens recreation center in September 2012 after the two argued over a garbage bag. Swann got the job despite previous gun and theft charges.
“As far as we understand, no changes have been made,” parks advocate Geoffrey Croft said of the agency’s hiring process. “Clearly, where they’re getting their employees is cause for concern.”
In 1982, Palamar, broke into the Rosedale, Queens, home of his next-door neighbor, 83-year-old Morris Rosenhaft, who caught the intruder red-handed. He swung a bat at Palamar, who snatched it and smashed the old man.
Charged with murder, Palamar — who had a prior burglary rap — pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He served 16 years of a 25-year sentence before being paroled in 1999. He was back behind bars in 2001, pleading guilty in Manhattan to petit larceny and possession of stolen property.
In 2009, Palamar, a member of DC37’s Local 983, was on the job when Michelle Fecu of Brooklyn was assigned to do 10 days of community service after a shoplifting arrest.
Fecu, now 31, says the 6-foot-3 ex-con chatted her up, following her in his truck at the end of the workday and offering her rides home. When she reluctantly agreed, he put his arm around her and played with her hair, according to court documents.
An uncomfortable Fecu didn’t initially report the creepy behavior because she “didn’t want to complain, didn’t want them to think I didn’t want to do community service,” she said during a deposition in her 2010 Manhattan Supreme Court case.
But Palamar grabbed her rear on her last day while she cleaned garbage in the park. Fed up, Fecu finally told supervisors. Palamar was arrested and ordered to stay away from her.
Fecu is outraged her groper is still patrolling the city’s public spaces.
“It’s horrible,” she said. “He can do whatever he wants to do and not even [get] a slap on the wrist?” she said. “He gets to do the same thing? Really?”
Confronted by The Post in Tompkins Square Park last week while he unloaded bags of leaves, Palamar declined to comment on the sexual-abuse case or his manslaughter conviction.
“Whether I deserve [the job] or not is irrelevant,” he said. “I took the [civil-service] test, and I passed it just like anybody else.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Hagen
Read More:
Parks Department continues to keep convicted killer perv on the job
New York Post - November 24, 2013 - By Kathianne Boniello
Dangerous Criminals Being Hired At Parks
A Walk In The Park - September 30, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment