Jennifer Vazquez

Overhead Subway Debris Allegedly Falls on Car in Queens, Driver Says

According to MTA, the agency looked into the incident but did not find anything 'abnormal' at the scene

What to Know

  • MTA looked into whether metal that apparently crashed into a car's roof in Queens Monday was debris from elevated subway track
  • A woman believes a piece of metal fell from the elevated tracks along Liberty Avenue and 115th in Richmond Hill and hit her car
  • However, the MTA says it looked into Monday’s incident but did not find “anything abnormal at the scene”

MTA workers were seen inspecting a section of tracks Monday afternoon as they looked into whether metal that apparently crashed into a car's roof in Queens was debris from elevated subway tracks.

The alleged incident occurred Monday when a woman behind the wheel heard a thump, pulled over, got out, looked up and apparently found damage on the roof of her car.

The woman believes it was a piece of metal that fell from the elevated tracks along Liberty Avenue and 115th in Richmond Hill.

She says the debris rained down as a train passed above.

Chopper 4 captured MTA workers inspecting the tracks Monday afternoon.

However, the MTA says it looked into Monday’s incident but did not find “anything abnormal at the scene.”

In a statement, the MTA said: “We obviously take any report like this seriously and sent a team to investigate. We didn’t find anything abnormal at the scene – there was no debris on the ground, the track was inspected from both sides and all components were found to be secure. Our systemwide inspection of all elevated track structures continues.”

Falling debris from elevated tracks has damaged at least three cars in the last month, including a car impaled by a wooden beam. MTA president Andy Byford said the agency is looking to other cities, including Chicago, for help on maintenance tips for elevated tracks.

"We are reaching out to sister agencies — a classic, obvious example being Chicago because they operate a lot of overhead structures — to see if there is anything that they do additional to what we do," Byford said.

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