A New York Metropolis public housing plumber who out-earned practically each municipal worker final yr is underneath investigation after information present he logged 1000’s of additional time hours whereas apparently operating two personal plumbing companies on the aspect.
Jakub Markowski, a plumber supervisor with the New York Metropolis Housing Authority, earned greater than $465,000 through the metropolis’s 2025 fiscal yr after racking up practically 2,560 hours of additional time, the very best complete of any metropolis worker, the New York Occasions reported. The town’s Division of Buildings is investigating whether or not his exterior work violated licensing guidelines.
Markowski, a licensed grasp plumber, labored in NYCHA’s fireplace security division whereas additionally being listed on permits tied to greater than 70 personal plumbing jobs in neighborhoods together with the Higher East Facet and Brooklyn Heights throughout the identical interval. The initiatives had been dealt with by way of two corporations, Tremendous Plumbers Corp. NYC and Dynamic Blue Water Mechanical.
In line with the Occasions, Markowski obtained a waiver in 2019 permitting him to keep up a non-public plumbing enterprise whereas working for the town. However NYCHA stated he didn’t get hold of a brand new waiver after being promoted to a supervisory position in 2024, elevating questions on whether or not his exterior work remained approved.
The Buildings Division can also be analyzing Markowski’s relationship with Robert Tarnawa, who’s tied to one of many plumbing corporations however isn’t a licensed grasp plumber. Underneath metropolis regulation, plumbing work involving licensed actions should be carried out both by a licensed grasp plumber or underneath that individual’s direct supervision.
NYCHA referred questions on its personal assessment to the town’s Division of Investigation, which declined to remark as a result of the matter stays lively.
NYCHA has confronted repeated scrutiny over its practices lately. Federal prosecutors charged dozens of NYCHA staff in a sweeping bribery and extortion case in 2024. The authority beforehand fired a minimum of 18 employees following an additional time fraud investigation.
The scrutiny comes at an ungainly second for NYCHA, which has struggled for years with deteriorating buildings, persistent underfunding and a string of corruption scandals.
The authority estimates it wants tens of billions of {dollars} in capital repairs throughout its portfolio, the place roughly 300,000 New Yorkers dwell. These situations have made additional time commonplace for expert tradespeople tasked with conserving growing old developments operational, however Markowski’s workload appeared to face aside, even by NYCHA requirements.
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