A city schoolteacher yesterday was caught stealing a piece of “art’’ from a subway train, cops said.
Rookie educator James Tavaras, 34, was on a southbound No. 6 train approaching 96th Street at around 4 p.m. when he allegedly took a screwdriver out of his pocket and pried the art right off the wall, according to police.
The “artwork’’ was not described, but some newer trains sport cartoon fantasy drawings of subway “passengers’’ in unusual kinds of vehicles, as well as posters of kids’ artwork.
Tavaras was charged with possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools and petit larceny in the odd heist.