George Washington Bridge Worker Dozes on Job

A security worker on the George Washington Bridge was apparently sleeping on the job, according to a northern New Jersey news Web site.

The Cliffview Pilot , which covers Bergen and Hudson counties, posted photos of a guard apparently dozing inside a guard booth near the New York side of the bridge Monday morning.

A bicyclist said he saw the man sleeping in the booth at 10:15 a.m. and snapped the photos.

Joey Lepore said it was the third time he has seen an attendant sleeping inside booths on the bridge, which connects Upper Manhattan to Fort Lee in Bergen County, N.J. He said he saw another guard sleeping on Aug. 5.

Security experts have long said that bridges and tunnels remain a prime target for terrorists.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which operates the bridge, has its own police that is the primary security force. The two guards seen sleeping in the booths worked for a security contractor, FJC Security, and have been fired.

"The Port Authority takes the safety of its passengers and facilities very serious and has spent more than $4 billion on security since 9/11," the agency said in a statement. "The Port Authority welcomes the public's vigilance on matters of safety and security and we encourage our customers to contact us if they encounter anything out of the ordinary."

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Port Authority restricted photography on the bridge for security reasons (the rules have since been relaxed).

In 2005 and 2006, the agency installed cylindrical bomb shields on the lower the section of the bridge's suspension cables.

More than 105 million vehicles crossed the George Washington Bridge in 2008, according to the Port Authority, making it one of the busiest spans in the world.