Sleepy union big was living with a meth lab in ’06
By LORENA MONGELLI, RICH CALDER and BOB FREDERICKS
Last Updated: 9:12 AM, May 29, 2013
Posted: 1:28 AM, May 29, 2013
Maybe he slept through it.
The union fat cat exposed by The Post for gorging and snoozing on the job has a roommate who ran a crystal-meth lab right under his nose, authorities said.
The FBI raided Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal’s Olinville Avenue apartment in Bronxdale in 2006 as part of a methamphetamine sting, nailing Rosenthal’s roommate, Eric Wright, on drug charges.
Rosenthal told The Post yesterday he was clueless about the illicit operation.
“Did you ever see a 400-pound meth addict?” he asked, adding that Wright is still renting a room from him after spending a year in jail. “This is ridiculous. I wasn’t involved. I wasn’t charged with anything.”
NY Post: G.N. MIller
THAT’S ME! Mark Rosenthal reads our story about him yesterday in front of his Bronx home — where, in 2006, his roommate was busted for operating a meth lab.
STAFFERS BLAST '2-HOUR WORKDAY' AS UNION PREZ SNAPPED IN POST-LUNCH SLUMBER
Shown a copy of yesterday’s Post featuring photos of him sleeping at his desk on different days, the 5-foot-7, 400-pound Rosenthal defended his work as the president of the local repping members of District Council 37.
“With everything going on in the world, a picture of a big fat guy sleeping shouldn’t be on the front page,” Rosenthal said. “It hurts. You think I like being so heavy? I’m fat, but I have feelings, too.”
Rosenthal, 60, confessed that diets have not worked for him and that he was rejected as a candidate for the kind of weight-loss surgery New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie underwent.
“The doctor said I’m unable to do the operation because I’m too big,” he said.
Rosenthal insisted he only took office “power naps” to stay sharp at his $156,000-a-year job heading the city’s largest blue-collar union.
“I work 10-hour days, sometimes seven days a week,” he said, adding he gets also drowsy because of pain medication he takes for injuries suffered when he crashed through a chair to the floor of a McDonald’s in 2012.
He said he tried to get a cash settlement from the fast-food giant, but McDonald’s refused to pay.
The embattled union chief angrily blamed political foes challenging him in a June 5 election for smearing him over his work ethic.
IT'S A DREAM JOB: Mark Rosenthal, who pulls in $156,000 a year as head of Local 983 of District Council 37, nods off at his desk during one of a series of postlunch naps that have outraged members of the union’s executive board.
Rosenthal added that the hefty meal tabs for which he bills the union up to $1,400 a month from favorites like Dallas BBQ and F&J Pine Restaurant in The Bronx include food he orders for other staffers.
Mayor Bloomberg weighed in in on Rosenthal yesterday when asked what he’d do if a city employee were found sleeping on the job.
“I think we’d have some serious questions as to whether that person should continue to be employed,” he said.
rcalder@nypost.com
