In a surprising twist that might make even the MTA cringe, a safety superintendent for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) was caught using fake city parking placards to secure illegal parking spots. Officials revealed this breach of trust on Thursday, detailing how the superintendent, Leon Bipat, created counterfeit placards at home for his personal use.
Despite having access to a free MetroCard courtesy of his employment, Bipat chose to drive to work, conveniently parking in a no-standing zone right outside the MTA’s lower Manhattan headquarters. This was made possible by the placards he forged, which falsely bore the NYC Transit insignia, according to a report by MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort.
The irony here is that NYC Transit, the division where Bipat was tasked with overseeing safety compliance for subway and bus workers, doesn’t even issue street parking placards. This makes his actions not only deceitful but also blatantly against MTA regulations.
“This employee knowingly violated MTA policies and his dishonest conduct is unacceptable,” an MTA spokesperson stated, underscoring the severity of the infraction.
Bipat’s scheme came to light thanks to an anonymous tip. Investigators conducted surveillance in March and September of the previous year, during which they observed Bipat’s two personal vehicles prominently displaying the forged permits.
Investigators, tipped off by an anonymous complaint, ran surveillance in March and September of last year and spotted each of Bipat’s two personal vehicles sporting one of the fake passes.
In interviews with investigators, Bipat admitted he had scanned a “template” and used a home computer to match fonts and make placards tailored to each car, claiming he found the template among “papers lying around” an office building at an unrelated cleaning gig.
But he could not remember who hired him, where the job took place or what type of office he was cleaning.
Both cars had out‑of‑state plates and insurance, and Bipat further admitted to lying to his insurer about where he lived to secure cheaper rates — conduct the inspector general told the insurance company about.
The investigation also uncovered that Bipat had quietly been running his own LLC since 2021 doing auto repairs and cleaning work without ever seeking required dual employment approval.
He told the inspector general he earned about $1,500 in 2024 from his second job, despite MTA’s ethics training that outlines rules of conduct for dual employment.
The inspector general concluded Bipat violated multiple MTA conduct rules and the state’s Public Officers Law that bars public employees from using their positions for “unwarranted privileges” and from undermining public trust.
NYC Transit stripped Bipat of his superintendent title on Feb. 10, suspended him and gave him a permanent demotion back to trackworker — plus a “final warning.”
He is now not being paid until a new hourly trackworker slot opens up, according to the report.
