The family of the 22-year-old mentally disabled man abandoned on a bus for 17 hours spoke out yesterday. Edward Rivera, who suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot communicate, was found freezing in the bus, parked in the bus depot, and the bus matron Linda Hockaday was arrested for reckless endangerment. Rivera's mother said, "I was shocked because [Hockaday] was excellent to him...I was in denial at first because she was so good to Edward. He bonded with her, which never happened before...I would like to ask her what happened."
Rivera should have been taken his East Harlem home on Wednesday afternoon, from his day program in Tribeca, but the bus never dropped him off and returned to the depot in Brooklyn. According to police sources, Hockaday knew that Rivera was sleeping on the bus, but she was anxious to see a church performance (and apparently didn't want to go all the way back to East Harlem). Hockaday was charged, but not the bus driver, because as bus matron, she was responsible for passengers' safety. Her lawyer, however, said, "Yes, she has responsibility for this young person. But the backup system is the driver, who did nothing."
Still, Charles Curcio, the owner of Outstanding Transport, which operates the bus, fired Hockaday, "She won't be working for me anymore...That was her responsibility. That is what she is here for. She knowingly saw the client on the bus, sleeping in the back." The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities is now investigating Outstanding Transport and Rivera's day program. The News points out, "it became clear that the system lacked oversight, with the state relying on the schools to report incidents, and the programs relying on the bus companies to report to them."
