Debris Fell from the Elevated 7 Line onto Roosevelt Avenue on June 2 (Twitter: Erin Koster @darlingfeminist)
June 3, 2019 By Christian Murray (Updated)
Another piece of debris appears to have fallen from the 7 train tracks along Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside.
A resident took to twitter Monday afternoon after almost being struck by a piece of metal while walking under the Roosevelt Avenue line near 53rd Street. Pictures were posted, accompanied by a Tweet directed at the MTA:
“This … almost came down on my head as a train passed over. Does someone actually have to wind up in the hospital or worse before you do something?”
Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who posted images in February of a wooden beam that fell from the tracks and pierced through a car windshield by 65th Street, retweeted Monday’s image and asked: “@MTA-how many times can debris fall from the tracks before someone gets killed? This is insanity.”
The MTA issued a statement Monday afternoon in response to the latest incident.
“This has the attention of the highest levels of MTA leadership. We are working to quickly put into place an initial deployment of netting to understand if it can be used to contain debris.”
There have been several instances of debris falling from the elevated 7-line in Sunnyside and Woodside this year. In January, decorative tiles fell from the 7 line viaduct by 45th Street that smashed the windshield of a car below.
In March, two weeks after the wooden beam incident, a rusty object fell onto a moving car near 62nd Street cracking the windshield below while it was occupied.
On Feb. 21 a wooden beam fell from the elevated 7 line near 65th Street and pierced the windshield of a vehicle(Twitter: Van Bramer)
No one has been hurt in any of these incidents.
Elected officials have been calling on the MTA to fix the problem.
In March, Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer, Daniel Dromm, Francisco Moya and Peter Koo—joined by Council Speaker Corey Johnson—held a press conference on the steps of City Hall and chided the agency for letting the elevated line fall into such disrepair.
“The MTA has stood by idly for far too long while the elevated 7 train infrastructure has crumbed before our eyes,” Johnson said.
The agency said after the February incident that it would inspect the elevated line. It soon deemed it safe.
“We inspected the area in detail and have determined it to be safe,” the MTA said soon after.
The MTA said Monday that the latest debris to fall does not appear to have been the result of corrosion..
“The 7 line has undergone multiple inspections of its structure in recent months, and the debris that was found today appears to have broken clean recently with no signs of slow deterioration or stress that would have been visible earlier. We’re glad that no one was hurt and look forward to seeing the results of a netting pilot which will be deployed in limited locations around the city including the 7 line.”
Van Bramer has been calling on the agency to install protective netting under the tracks along Roosevelt Avenue since March.
The MTA initially rejected his request arguing that it would cause traffic disruption to install and secure, and would impede the agency’s ability to assess and rectify defects.
The MTA has now reversed course and is testing the netting concept.
Van Bramer said the public wants to feel safe while being near the 7 line.
“How are we supposed to have confidence that this isn’t going to happen again?” Van Bramer said. “The only reason people haven’t died is luck.”
A piece of metal fell from the elevated 7 Line on Roosevelt Avenue near 62nd Street on March 6 piercing the windshield of a car below (Twitter: Van Bramer)
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14 Comments
And yet people still park under there.
Bike Lanes!!!
JVB seizing the opportunity for another photo op and to let everyone know he did something-once
Those pesky Russians are sabotaging our infrastructure again! Oh wait… Maybe it’s the decades of neglect by our State/City run Democratic politicians ?!?!
Third world-State run MTA neglected by Republicans who have had control of state house until this year. Please get informed and stop spreading misinformation.
Person posting as 3rd world, you have it all wrong.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S. state of New York, serving 12 counties in Downstate New York, along with two counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in the United States. MTA is run by the state. Typical uniformed Trumper.
Who gives a shit if there’s traffic disruption. You’ve been disrupting the 7 line for almost a decade by refusing to fix it in a timely manner. Fix the train!
Why don’t they send back that guy Andy of MTA back to UK please. Since he do not think providing netting is necessary He claims all tracks were inspected ? Bullocks .Unless someone is throwing stuff down onto the street ?
This is the bike lanes fault and the horrible hipsters in sunnyside causing this. And of course are fierce less council member JVB shows up for his photo opp. Such a horrible council member.
Sorry Edward. This has nothing to do with hipsters or bike lanes. And JVB has been on this problem from the get go.
Roosevelt Ave. 7 line needs the same kind of netting that’s on the QB bridge lower level.
Edward- Are fierce less ?”
I witnessed the MTA checking the 7 line on Roosevelt the last time. One guy in a lift-type platform inspecting the steel beams, one supervisor up there near him on the phone, and four guys standing on the sidewalk watching and bullshitting. No joke.
That’s always how it is. One guy working. The other 5 watching the sucker.
Must be the homeless destroying the infrastructure again.