Memoranda and correspondence related to "swipers"

Noah McClain filed this request with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters of New York.

It is a clone of this request.

Due June 6, 2018
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Noah McClain


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

Emails sent or received by, and memorandum authored by, the following individuals in their capacity as officers and employees of the MTA, between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2014, which contain one or more of the following terms: "swipers" "swiper" and "selling swipes".

Elliot G. Sander
Katherine Lapp
Susan L. Kupferman
Myrna L. Ramon
Christopher P. Boylan
James B. Henley
William A. Morange
Ernest Tollerson
Hillary D. Ring
Katherine RInaldi
Timothy A. Obrien
Louis R. Anemone

If memoranda are not keyword searchable, please provide those which use the above terms in a subject heading.

Please advise me of the appropriate time during normal business hours for inspecting these records prior to obtaining copies.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Noah McClain

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Good afternoon,

Please see the attached correspondence in acknowledgment of your FOIL request of May 30, 2018.

Best,

Kimlyn Carby
Paralegal
[cid:image001.jpg@01D05045.75979BE0]
Office of the General Counsel
2 Broadway, C4.98 |New York, NY 10004
[cid:image002.jpg@01D05045.75979BE0]212-878-1039 | kcarby@mtahq.org<mailto:kcarby@mtahq.org>
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From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Dear Mr. McClain,

Receipt of your May 30, 2018 FOIL request was acknowledged on June 6, 2018. The acknowledgement letter indicated it would take approximately thirty (30) days to respond.

As of today, that time frame has not expired. If we need additional time to respond, we will let you know.

Very truly yours,

Ann Cutler
Paralegal
(212) 878-7315

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Dear Mr. McClain,

This is a response to your July 6, 2018 follow-up email regarding your May 30, 2018 FOIL request.

Please note that your request was acknowledged on June 6, 2018. The acknowledgement letter indicated it would take approximately thirty (30) days to respond.

As of this date, that time frame has not expired. If we need additional time to respond, we will let you know.

Very truly yours,

Ann Cutler
Paralegal

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Dear Mr. McClain,

This email is regarding your May 30, 2018 FOIL request.

We are still in the process of reviewing our files to identify responsive records that are subject to disclosure pursuant to FOIL.

We anticipate being able to respond within an additional thirty (30) business days.

Very truly yours,

Ann Cutler
Paralegal
(212) 878-7315

From: Noah McClain

Dear Ann Cutler,

On May 30, 2018, I made a request for records under FOIL, which was acknowledged by your office on June 6, 2018.

On July 25, 2018, a letter from your office indicated the need for an additional 30 days to respond.
Sixty days have passed since that update.
Are there steps I can take to help your office identify the records I seek?
Can you provide me with an updated timeline for which the records will be made available?

Sincerely,
Noah McClain

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Dear Mr. McClain,

In response to your email of today's date regarding your May 30, 2018 FOIL request, please be advised that we are in the process of retrieving and reviewing documents to identify responsive records that are subject to disclosure pursuant to FOIL.

We need additional time to complete this project and anticipate being able to reply within an additional thirty (30) business days.

Very truly yours,

Ann Cutler
Paralegal

From: Noah McClain

Dear FOIL officer,

I write to inquire about the status of my FOIL request of May 30, 2018.

On September 26, I offered to provide additional information needed to help identify records I seek. Additional inquiries have asked if there are ways to clarify the request.

While your office has not sought additional information which might narrow the scope of the request, its most recent recent response, of September 26, 2018, indicated an additional 30 days would be required to provide a response.

Today, 170 days after the date of completion your office indicated, I once again request a status update, and I reiterate my willingness to work with your office to make the request less burdensome. Like you, my goals is to see this request fulfilled as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Noah McClain

From: Noah McClain

Dear Records Access Officer,

I write once again to inquire about the status of a FOIL request (“Memoranda and correspondence related to ‘swipers’”), acknowledged by your office on June 6, 2018.

On the following dates, I received notifications that your office is in the process of identifying responsive records: July 25, 2018 and September 26, 2018.

Since that date, your office has not responded to fifteen requests for updates, as well as a sincere offer to help narrow the scope of the request.

As the request is nearly thirteen months old, I request all documents which have been identified to date.

In addition, I request to be notified of the official FOIL request number assigned by your office to this request.

Sincerely

Noah McClain

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Dear Mr. McClain,

This is regarding your May 30, 2018 FOIL request (MTA FOIL Request #2018-5).

Please be advised that MTA Headquarters receives numerous FOIL requests and it is taking longer than anticipated to respond to your request.

We will make every effort to respond to the request within an additional thirty (30) business days and appreciate your patience.

Very truly yours,

Ann Cutler
Paralegal

From: Noah McClain

To: Thomas J. Quigley
General Counsel
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
2 Broadway
New York NY 10004
via USPS certified mail, tracking # 7019 1640 0000 4531 6100

CC: FOIL Records Access Officers
Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City Transit
Sent via the MuckRock platform (https://www.muckrock.com/)

CC: Franklin H. Stone,
New York State Committee on Open Government
Department of State
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 650
Albany, NY 12231

From: Noah McClain, PhD
Department of Social Sciences
Illinois Institute of Technology
Siegal Hall, #116
3301 S. Dearborn
Chicago IL 61610
nmcclain@iit.edu

Date: December 6, 2019.

Re: MTA FOIL requests:

1. No. 22965 (Incident 180614-001599), acknowledged by MTA paralegal Manpreet Kaur on June 18, 2018. (correspondence available at https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-16/memoranda-and-correspondence-related-to-swipers-55738/

2. No. 2018-5, acknowledged by MTA paralegal Kimlyn Carby on June 6, 2018 (correspondence available at https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-16/memoranda-and-correspondence-related-to-swipers-55056/)

Dear Mr. Quigley,

I write in regards to the above-referenced FOIL requests (hereafter “request 1” and “request 2”, according to the above numbering).

Request 1 requested emails of senior staff associated with New York City Transit which contained any of four keywords. It requested an opportunity to inspect the records in-person, and to be notified when forty pages of responsive records have accumulated.

A message from the MTA, received on October 18, 2019, indicated a new estimated completion date of 12/31/2018. A message from your office received on 1/3/2019 then estimated a completion date of June 30, 2018. The letter indicated that the request was voluminous and required great time to review. I take this to mean that numerous records have been identified as responsive.

A follow-up message from the MTA on January 18, 2019 invited me to narrow the scope of my request. I responded on Jan 29, 2019 offering to narrow the scope of my request, to emails which involve just two MTA executives. I reiterated my offer in a message dated April 3, 2019. I have received no acknowledgement of my offer, or to eleven subsequent letters asking for updates on my request. At the time of writing, I have received no correspondence regarding Request 1 from the MTA for ten months.

Request 2 asked for emails of senior staff of the MTA which contained any of three keywords. It asked for an opportunity to inspect the records in-person. Letters from Ann Cutler extended the MTA’s completion date to August 25, 2018, then to October 26, 2018. With no further response from your office, I offered, on April 3, 2019, to narrow the scope of my request to expedite the identification of records. That offer went unacknowledged, and the last correspondence received from your office over this matter is dated June 28, 2019.

Both of these requests approach eighteen months old. In these matters, the MTA is clearly out of compliance with New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). I ask your compliance with both its letter and spirit. If the requests were burdensome, I have given your agency ample opportunity to narrow the scope of the request, but these offers have been ignored.

I have cc’d the New York State Committee on Open Government to keep them apprised of this matter.
I remind your office of legislation signed on December 13, 2017, amending the public officer’s law (Section 1, paragraph c, subdivision 4, section 89) to read,
“(c) The court in such a proceeding: (i) may assess, against such agency involved, reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by such person in any case under the provisions of this section in which such person has substantially prevailed, [when: i. the agency had no reasonable basis for denying access; or ii.] and when the agency failed to respond to a request or appeal within the statutory time; and (ii) shall assess, against such agency involved, reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by such person in any case under the provisions of this section in which such person has substantially prevailed and the court finds that the agency had no reasonable basis for denying access.
§2. This act shall take effect immediately.”

I hereby request that your organization fulfill these two requests as originally written within five business days, including by either accommodating my requests to inspect these records in-person during normal business hours, or by waiving fees for the production of digital scans emailed to me. Please notify me by email (address above) that the records will be provided within this time-frame, and to make arrangements for the provision or inspection of records.

Sincerely

Noah McClain

From: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Headquarters

Please be advised that the MTA is still in the process of searching files and reviewing documents to identify records responsive your FOIL request.

We need an additional thirty (30) business days to reply.

Very truly yours,

MTA FOIL Office
Ann Cutler, Paralegal

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