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New York City Transit does a more than adequate job moving millions of harried commuters around the city every day, but its real estate experience is another story.
Consider the trouble-plagued consolidation of the agency's human resources departments on the top three floors of the old Macy's warehouse at 180 Livingston St. in Downtown Brooklyn.
"It's a madhouse right now," a temp worker said as he puffed a cigarette on the noisy and sweltering sidewalk in the front of the building the other day.
The 103-year-old, six-story brick building had been occupied by the New York State Workers' Compensation Board. It is conveniently located near dozens of bus and subway lines, a Long Island Rail Road hub and just blocks from transit headquarters on Jay Street.
The agency is paying $2.9 million a year for 123,900 square feet of space to accommodate various departments, including background investigations, medical records, drug testing, examinations and subway operations training.
More than 300 NYC Transit workers moved in about two weeks ago.
"We weren't in the building two days when the air conditioning broke down," another human resources worker said. "It was the hottest day...