Joe Perrette, who is homeless, helped direct confused commuters at Penn Station today.
With electrical wire damage on the tracks preventing any New Jersey-bound trains from leaving Penn Station this afternoon, frayed nerves are in no short supply. Yet a more chaotic scene at Penn is being held a bay by the unlikely efforts of a homeless man, who since this morning has been calmly answering questions and directing NJ Transit passengers to alternate routes.
Joe Perrette, 54, told me he has spent so many hours dozing in the NJ Transit waiting room that he has become something of an expert on the system. With no one else manning the information desk, confused riders were not asking for his employee ID before gratefully accepting his advice. He even helped a few tourists purchase their tickets before directing them onto the PATH station at 33rd Street.
"They keep saying that the trains are delayed," Perrette said. "So people have been hanging around here for hours. They should have said the trains were canceled, so folks could make other plans."
(Justin Rocket Silverman)
