What to Know
- An 89-year-old who drove a car through a construction barrier before flipping into a ditch is in stable condition, an FDNY official said
- Firefighters sawed off the doors and rescued the driver, who was taken to Lutheran Hospital in stable condition and "good spirits"
- Video from the scene showed firefighters surrounding the ditch as a person is removed on a stretcher
An 89-year-old who drove a car through a construction barrier before flipping into a ditch is in stable condition, an FDNY official said.
The FDNY received a call reporting a car had gone into a sewer work site near Bedford Avenue and Avenue V in Sheepshead Bay around 11 a.m. Wednesday, the department said.
FDNY Chief Daniel Woods said the driver mowed through the construction barrier before flipping into a ditch where the city's Department of Environmental Protection was rehabilitating the sewer.
Firefighters sawed off the doors and rescued the driver, who was taken to Lutheran Hospital in stable condition and "good spirits," Woods said.
Video from the scene showed firefighters surrounding the ditch as the driver was removed on a stretcher.
The FDNY was planning to use a crane to remove the car from the ditch, it said.
The department was keeping the street closed off as it worked to remove the car, due to risk of explosion if the car removal process hit a gas main, Woods noted.
The DEP's work on the sewer will take for more weeks, according to spokesman Ted Timbers. The road has been closed to vehicles with a barricade, and it was indeed closed Wednesday morning.
