Debris from subway tracks shattered man's windshield, dented car in Queens
LONG ISLAND CITY (WABC) -- In New York City, drivers are expected to keep a mindful eye out for pedestrians and the occasional pothole.
It's a whole different situation when debris falls out of the sky.
For one driver who took a ride through Queens this weekend, he has a story, a body shop repair bill and many questions.
He exclusively spoke to Eyewitness News reporter CeFaan Kim.
"We were driving right off here. Something fell off the train, damaging the windshield. I have a dent in the hood," Rahimi said.
When Elliot Rahimi and Tamir Malnick said the sky was falling, they were not exaggerating.
Debris came raining down from the No. 7 train tracks above, they said.
Two massive rusty bolts punctured and dented the hood of Rahimi's Audi sedan, leaving the windshield shattered.
Malnick was sitting in the front passenger seat.
"My interior is covered in glass," Rahimi said.
"A bolt hit and then right away just the sound of glass exploding and glass all over me. Like on my legs, in my legs, on my chest," Malnick said.
"I thought we were being shot at at the time because the velocity of the metal it hit so hard that for a second I thought it was a bullet," Rahimi said.
They say it happened around 12:30 Saturday afternoon under the No. 7 train at Queens Plaza in Long Island City.
This is not the first time danger from above has wreaked havoc on drivers below.
In 2019, it happened three times within a month.
A wood beam pierced an uber driver's SUV under the No. 7 train in Woodside.
That driver came within inches of being impaled.
Then a chunk of concrete fell and left a softball-sized crack in a windshield in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.
Weeks later a metal bolt fell from the A line and dented a car in South Richmond Hill, Queens.
The MTA as a result at the time said they took the incidents seriously and intensified inspections of the tracks.
MTA spokesperson Kayla Shults said in a statement, "New York City Transit is investigating an object reportedly falling from elevated tracks in Long Island City. Crews are responding to the area and will make the necessary inspections."
"It's mind-boggling. I can't believe that this has happened multiple times and it hasn't been fixed yet," Rahimi said.
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