For the second time this week, a piece of debris reportedly fell from an elevated subway track and onto a car below, smashing its sunroof.
Today's incident happened in Bed-Stuy, near Myrtle Avenue and Broadway. ABC reports that Yasmin Fitzpatrick was waiting at a stoplight in her car, below the elevated J/M/Z station, when she heard a sudden bang and her vehicle shook. She quickly realized something had hit her car, leaving a giant hole in her sunroof (the cover was closed, preventing it from getting inside the car). You can see a photo of the roof below.
“The location that is the subject of reports about a vehicle with a damaged sunroof is a decommissioned section of the former Myrtle Avenue line," said MTA spokesperson Tim Minton. "NYC Transit structures management staff have investigated and have been unable to find any debris that might have led to the damage portrayed. The MTA is continuing to review the matter.”
Earlier this week, a massive rusty bolt crashed through the roof of Kew Gardens resident Philip Garcia's car as he drove under the Queensboro Plaza trestle on Tuesday morning. "I’ve seen things fall from the 7 train since I was a teenager," he told Gothamist. "But I've never seen anything like that."
This week was not the first time debris has fallen from elevated subway tracks and nearly injured people this year; City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer has said there have been at least 12 incidents in Queens alone in 2019.
As part of the 2020-2024 $51.5 billion MTA capital plan, $325 million has been allocated toward solving the problem by installing protective netting across the city’s elevated subway tracks. Already, the MTA initially launched a $4.6 million pilot program to install protective knotless nylon netting, with openings small enough to catch debris, along four stretches of elevated track this summer.
