A-train riders in southern Queens woke up [yesterday] morning to discover that their commute would be even worse than normal, after the M.T.A. abruptly suspended service between Broad Channel and Rockaway Boulevard.
The cause, as it turned out, was "a massive theft of copper cable from the A line subway tracks near Howard Beach," according to an M.T.A. release.
Roughly 500 feet of copper cable was removed, and some ancillary equipment damaged.
"We are working closely with the NYPD Transit Bureau to help them investigate this crime and identify the culprits responsible," said M.T.A. New York City Transit president Carmen Bianco, in a statement.
This theft did more than force thousands of riders onto shuttle buses and into their cars, which itself is said to have caused traffic jams through Broad Channel.
It also hampered service along the entire 31-mile line, since trains that are stored in the Rockaway Park rail yard for use throughout the city were inaccessible. Nor could trains turn around there or in Far Rockaway.
20 comments:
This looks like it was planned, like a bank heist. Any coincidence that this took place near the racino? If I may come off like an amateur detective, but I can see a crew of recent big money losers after a bad night at resorts world cutting a fence, since they have the tools to cut cable, and going on the tracks and going to work. These pricks might even work for the MTA.
Or it could be some poor skilled tradesmen from hamilton beach, whoever it was should get hard time for this.
A racino connection entered my mind as well.
Hard time? Ha. This is new york. Haven't you heard we can't put people in jail now for non violent crimes? That would be racist.
The only "group" I've ever seen steal active copper are crack addicts. They will routinely will steal exposed copper piping from their own basements (yes this is the same copper supplying their toilets) or from vacant housing. Several housing authorities outside NYC have issues with this which is why they install PEX now.
-somethingstructural
Too bad the dapper don is gone. He would have had the thieves nailed to a cross by now.
Howard Beach is going to hell without enforcement. MTA cops find the culprits? You gotta be kidding!
It just goes to show you how secure the transportation system is, God forbid, against terrorists.
How do you this do this without getting electrocuted?
LOL!
So the coppers are going after the copper thieves.
Ah, do you not feel a return of the '70s in the air? This time with rents at $2,500 instead of $250 and pay per diem with no benefits.
This is not just anything. Copper is a high priced valuable commodity and should be heavily protected. Shame on the MTA.
It wasn't just subway service that was disrupted. Local buses were affected, too. To provide those shuttle buses, buses were pulled from local routes. In the case of the Q37 the wait time between them increased from 15-20 minutes to a half hour.
How much $$ can they make? High grade copper is about $2.75/lb
Anon No. 5: What MTA Police? The Transit Police haven't existed since Rudy Giuliani incorporated them into the NYPD. Ask DeBlasio and Bratton about what they're doing.
Copper is a high priced valuable commodity and should be heavily protected.
Not according to the 5 year chart:
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/copper.aspx?timeframe=5y
Copper cable isn't just "anything". It has has a very high resale and scrap value, and is frequently stolen in 3rd world countries. I recall an Eastern European country not to long ago lost all internet access because some thieves dug deep into the ground and ripped out all the copper wiring.
Poster 12: The MTA does have a police force (see http://web.mta.info/mta/police/) but they patrol the railroads (LIRR and Metro North) the NYPD transit division covers the subway system.
Poster 15: This crime took place on a subway line, which means that it's out of the jurisdiction of the MTA Police. This is strictly for the NYPD to handle.
The nypd vandals unit would have been the unit to address this.they are down to dozen cops from 60 5 years ago.these copper thieves are spcialists in what they do. They know there are no cops and will be back.......
NYPD vandals unit is too busy trying to catch graffiti taggers, without much success, I might add.
Follow the copper brick road. At the end of it are the scrap buyers.
That's where the thieves can be caught....and the buyers too.
I mean....showing up with yards and yards of cable....hmmm.
They won't be melting it down like gold, or recutting any stolen diamonds.
I Lt,2 sgts and 8 cops left. To cover 4 boroughs. The hiring can't keep up with the amount of retirements across the city.Feel safe?
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