NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — An MTA bus driver is being hailed as a hero for helping to save multiple people as the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought flooding and torrential downpours to New York City.
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Rosa Almonte told WCBS 880 that she doesn’t want any credit.
“Everybody is a hero here. All my coworkers are heroes here, because we do [this] every day for the community, for the people,” she said.
Almonte said she is dedicated to her job as a bus driver, moving people across New York City – but Wednesday night was unlike anything she has seen before.
“She drove passengers through 3 to 4 feet of water,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul. “I watched that video, the water was not on the street, the water was in the vehicle.”
Almonte was honored by the governor for her bravery in not giving up and getting the passengers and herself to safety – even as some had to stand on the seats of the bus to avoid flood waters.
Hochul noted Almonte was not the only bus driver to battle flood waters on Wednesday night, and she thanked them all for their courage.
“They welcomed riders in, they took care of them, they gave them the assurance of, ‘I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to protect you, I’m going to get you where you’re going,’” the governor said.
Still, Almonte says she doesn’t see her actions as heroic, and was just concerned about getting the bus to where it needed to go.
“I didn’t even see the water in my bus. I didn’t even see the people on the seats. I just thought, ‘I’m going to go through this water,’” she said.
Almonte was also right back to work on Thursday, drawing praise from Transport Workers Union Local 100 Vice President J.P. Patafio.
“Bus operators are the ‘e’ in ‘essential worker,’” he said. “When everything else fails, we’re out there making sure the city moves.”
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