A high-ranking state DOT director and his subordinate were suspended without pay — and could be fired — for bungling the response to winter storm Nemo on Long Island, The Post has learned.
The blizzard, which dumped three feet of snow on Suffolk County, has claimed five lives so far.
Suffolk DOT Regional Director Subimal Chakrobouti, 68, and Transportation Maintenence Engineer Rich Causin, 43, were put on ice on Saturday for 30 days and will face a state disciplinary hearing, a source said.
“It’s related to the storm,” said one state official.
Chakrabourti’s lawyer, Howard Rubin, said his client was a “political scapegoat’’ because of the public outrage following the storm, which shut down the Long Island Expressway and left some neighborhoods unplowed for days.
He said his client was suspended for ordering that the cleanup take place from west to east, instead of the reverse — leaving hardest-hit Suffolk County until last.
“Everyone thought it was a reasonable decision, and everybody knew about it,” said Rubin.
Meanwhile, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward Romaine, who was vacationing in Jamaica while the storm battered his constituents, cut his trip short and was expected to return last night.