Follow The Money

The controversial proposed alcohol ban on commuter trains gets more sinister:

The MTA board member leading the charge to ban the sale of booze on commuter rail platforms and trains works for a law firm that represents several of the restaurants and bars at Penn Station that would stand to benefit from the prohibition.

Long Island Rail Road bartenders, who fear their jobs are on the line, say it was only after Mitchell Pally was hired three months ago to handle “government relations” at the Weber Law Group, a Melville-based firm, that talk of the prohibition began.

“We’ve all been wondering where this whole thing came from, and when we checked the company’s Web site, we thought we may have our answer,” said one LIRR bar-cart attendant, who asked not to be identified.

The Weber Law Group lists restaurant-franchise giant Riese Restaurants as one of its clients.

Riese, whose Penn Station restaurants include TGI Friday’s and Houlihan’s, would likely see a spike in beer and liquor sales if the railroad stopped selling booze to passengers.

“There’s no question this would be good for business,” CEO Dennis Riese said. “But just a little.”

. . .

Pally said he brought the issue to the table because, as public policy, “it did not make sense” for the state to serve as bartender to customers who get in their cars when they arrive at their home station.

“I have been here [at Weber] three months and I don’t discuss my MTA activities with anybody,” Pally said.

Andrew Albert, a non-voting MTA board member, said he would need more information, but thought Pally’s employer could represent a conflict of interest in this matter. “It does not sound good,” he said.

Meanwhile, the unions that represent service attendants, along with the commuters who say they have a right to a drink on their train ride home, are stepping up their campaigns against the proposed ban.