It’s hard to picture New York without seeing the elevated trains and, of course, the iconic subway system. The Elevated Railway, or “El” began operation in 1868. While that version of the “El” is long gone, elevated trackways still exist in the outer boroughs as a part of the subway system. It is a system that has its fair share of problems, an aging infrastructure, and employee strikes. There may be an even more dangerous problem with the system, as a series of accidents have recently plagued the elevated railways with debris falling to the streets below, as ABC 7 reports.
The incident occurred in Queens on Monday. Erin Kosher was walking near another woman across Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside as a 7-train thundered overhead. Kosher said that she and the other woman were about 6-10 feet out in the street when two pieces of metal fell from the tracks, 30 feet overhead. The two pieces were small, but the height in which they fell could have caused serious injury.
This is the fourth such incident since February. One of the incidents included debris falling and smashing a truck a window. Koster said that she and her husband no longer drive beneath the tracks for fear of the falling debris.
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Even New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer is concerned. He wrote a letter to New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byford. The letter asked Byford to install netting that would catch falling debris, preventing it from falling to the street below. At first, the netting was not a step that the Transit Authority was prepared to take. However, after the latest incident, Byford said that they are looking into installing netting to see if it can be an effective solution to falling debris.
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