For the third time in a week, a piece of debris has fallen from elevated train tracks, hitting a car below. Now, the MTA has announced it will inspect over 325,000 baskets along 60 miles of elevated tracks. They will also speed up the installation of netting along 1.5 miles of tracks at two locations in the Bronx.

On Tuesday, Anna Lombard, a livery driver, had parked her car at 100th Street and Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, as she waited for a customer. Then, WABC 7 reports, "she heard a big boom. The driver turned around to find her rear windshield and trunk smashed by a large chunk of metal that broke loose" from the elevated A train tracks.

The MTA says it was a 15-pound D-wedge, which helps maintain spacing between the guard rail and running rail. The D-wedge had actually fallen into one of the protective baskets that the agency installed to prevent debris from falling onto the ground (and onto people and vehicles) but the MTA explained, "The metal component fell into a protective basket that was not properly secured, and which came loose."

Lombard's customer, Anthony Olivencia, was about to get into the car when the debris fell. "I forgot something and I walked right back and boom, it happened," he told WABC 7. "It was in 30 seconds."

NYC Transit President Andy Byford announced on Tuesday evening that the MTA would begin a "seven-day inspection blitz to immediately begin hand-checking every containment basket in the Subway system to ensure they are properly aligned and secured," according to a press release.

The MTA acknowledged the huge bolt that fell through a car's sunroof under the Queensboro Plaza trestle last week, saying, "A containment basket was found to be misaligned at that location. Disciplinary action has been initiated regarding this incident." (Another piece of debris fell last week into a car parked in Bedford-Stuyvesant, from a decommissioned part of the Myrtle line.)

“I take such incidents extremely seriously and have directed my team on an ongoing basis to take all necessary actions and expend all resources to prevent debris from falling from elevated structures," Byford said. "In addition to post-incident inspections, we are taking aggressive action to proactively prevent debris from dislodging and to catch it if it does come loose. Any of my team found to be derelict in maintaining or inspecting safety equipment, including elevated structure containment baskets, will be held fully accountable."


The MTA added that they had installed more netting at four test locations, "including the Jamaica J/ W Subway line’s elevated structure between 121st Street and 111th Street, below the elevated structure on the Astoria N W line near the 39 Av station, the 61 St-Woodside station on the Flushing 7 Subway line and the 125 St station on the Broadway 1 Subway line," plus they are "accelerating the deployment of approximately 1.5 miles of netting at two additional new locations: 167th on the 4 line, River Ave between 162 and Marcy; and 231st on the  1 line, Broadway between 239th and Kimberly."

The MTA is committing $200 million for additional netting in its 2020-2024 capital plan, and the current capital plan has $75 million for netting.