MTA Bigwig: Blowup Doll Isn't for HOV Lane, It's for 'Company'

A manager with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is either very lonely during his commutes or very sneaky. The New York Post has several photos it captured Wednesday of Giulio Divirgilio, an ex-NYPD cop and now general superintendent for the MTA's buses division, arriving to work in Brooklyn in his Kia Telluride, with a blowup doll in the passenger seat. The doll appears to be a version of a $16 inflatable called "Carpool Kenny," promoted as being an extra "passenger" for the HOV lane, which typically requires two or more people in a vehicle.

Divirgilio, who's said to have been an MTA employee for more than 10 years, told the Post he doesn't use the doll to get around HOV requirements, instead insisting that Kenny is "for the company." He stuck to that narrative even after the paper kept pushing him on it. "Have I ever lied to you?" he asked. The answer to that may come from the MTA, which says it is investigating. (Kenny may be more realistic than this attempt.)