For most New York City train riders, honesty seems to be the best policy.
That was the prevailing opinion among straphangers and conductors after a sack of cash containing $30,000 was left behind in a Long Island Rail Road car.
The money stash was returned to its rightful owner thanks to the teamwork and sleuthing efforts of MTA employees. It was a happy ending to a story that could easily have been a costly if not life-changing blunder for the absentminded passenger.
At Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn Sunday, The Post found most people were sympathetic about the situation and insisted they would also have turned in the money if they found it.
“I would give it back. It’s the right thing to do,” said Quinn Botswin, 45, a welder from Brooklyn.
“It’s not my money.”
One train conductor, who declined to give his name, lauded MTA Assistant Conductor Christopher Nocito, who discovered the forgotten valise full of Benjamins on the Ronkonkoma-bound LIRR train shortly after Christmas and turned it over to MTA Police.
“It just shows the standup people who work here,” he said.
Brooklynite Stephanie Folwell, 59, said Notico’s strong moral fiber has been sorely missing in this day and age.
“It’s so good of that conductor to do that because there is so little integrity and moral code, it’s nice to know that somebody actually has one. It’s an encouraging story.”
Her husband, Roger Folwell, 65, a retired NYPD officer, echoed his wife’s praise of the upstanding MTA employee.
“I would expect nothing less of a Long Island Rail Road employee. If I found that, I would do the same thing,” the ex-cop said before a quick amendment.
“Now if it were $20, that’s different.”
Queens educator Tracy Allen said the incident is a good example of the Golden Rule in action.
“I would hope that if I lost it, someone would return it. In order for that to actually happen, I’d have to be the first one to show that that’s the right thing to do,” she said.
She also praised Nocito for his honesty.
“You would hope everyone was the same way. Then we wouldn’t have so many thefts, so many robberies, so many crimes. You would hope people are just as considerate. Do unto others, the Golden Rule.”
Chris Cartagena of Central Islip, 35, who rides LIRR regularly, said he would have followed his conscience if he’d stumbled upon the bag of greenbacks.
“I would give it back. Somebody else needed it, it wasn’t mine to keep in the first place.”
One rider who didn’t give his name admitted he would have probably kept the cash if it was only a few bucks, but acknowledged $30,000 was an entirely different matter.
“If it was three dollars, I’d take it, no one is probably looking for it. It’s $30,000, somebody is likely looking for it. It also might be something illegal.”
Most riders The Post spoke to said without much hesitation that of course they’d return the money, but Kendrick Reid, a creative director from Brooklyn, admitted making such a discovery would at least give him pause.
“I think I’d give it back. I have lost so many things on the LIRR and I have gotten them all back. I’ve lost a wallet, a suitcase — all given back to me,” he said.
“I would seriously contemplate it though, there would be a moment of, ‘Should I? Shouldn’t I?’ Maybe a couple of stacks would be missing when they get it back,” he said before paranoia got the better of him.
“Honestly I would probably be too scared to open it. It could be a bomb. I would not rush to open it.”
One rider who was rushed away by his friends before he could give his name said he would have used the money to indulge in some adult pleasures if he had been the one to find it.
“I would say ‘holy smokes’ then I would go home and lay out the money. I would get some food, go to a strip club, go to the OTB.”
After Nocito turned over the bag, it wound up in the hands of MTA Police Detective Kristin Riker, who was able to locate its owner by leafing through an appointment book she found inside.
A train engineer who declined to give his name said he wasn’t surprised the money was returned in the end.
“We have policies for that,” he said, recalling a 1993 incident when a man left his wallet containing a large amount of cash at the ticket counter.
“I go to open it, there is $21,000 in there. I report it, ‘I just found $21,000 in someone’s wallet.’ An old man comes in, ‘We’re leaving New York, we just retired,’ his wife is yelling at him, ‘That’s all our travel money, what are you doing?’” the engineer said, mimicking the couple.
“He tried to give me money, but I [waved him off]. Do unto others. I’m glad it all worked out.”
