Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn — On Friday, May 26th, in the mid-morning hours, a westbound semi-truck on Oriental Boulevard collided with low-hanging powerlines, resulting in the collapse of multiple utility poles onto a parked MTA bus.
The collision caused damage to a B49 bus, which had an MTA employee on board at the time. Fortunately, no bystanders or passengers were injured; however, members of the FDNY who arrived at the scene revealed that the employee, identified as the driver, sustained minor injuries that were treated at the scene.
The incident led to the closure of an additional section of Oriental Boulevard, between Langham and Kensington St, which was already undergoing construction for water work. As a result, MTA traffic was disrupted and buses were rerouted. Students from both Kingsborough College and Leon M. Goldstein High School were required to walk an extra half mile to access the nearest alternative stop.
A utility worker who had been present during the incident corroborated existing reports and commented that “It was crazy, but also oddly enough, funny to watch.”
Con Edison, which maintains control over the distribution and infrastructure of electricity within the vast majority of New York City, quickly responded to the scene.
ConEd said that power was out to more than 200 customers in the area, per CBS reporting.
A firefighter at the scene informed the Amicus that Con Edison would commence work to disconnect the power lines with the goal of eventually lifting and removing the utility poles, in preparation for the installation of new ones.
“I’m not sure if they’ll be able to complete this by the end of today. Considering the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, my best guess is that they will disconnect them today, remove the poles, and wait until after the weekend to install the new ones” the firefighter with the FDNY said.
The operation to remove and reinstall the power lines will likely be costly and would have to go through the truck driver’s insurance. “If I had to estimate, I’d say this will cost in the thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars,” another member of the FDNY said.
After surveying the local area, it is important to highlight that other power lines spanning Oriental Boulevard were noticeably low. According to a fellow reporter’s estimate, they hung at approximately 10-15 feet off the ground.
It is entirely possible that the fault did not lie with the driver; instead, the power lines may have just been mounted too low to the ground. Furthermore, the power lines hung lower on the side of westbound traffic compared to eastbound traffic. Therefore, if the driver entered safely, he may have reasonably expected to exit safely as well.
Based on the aforementioned observations, it is probable that any charges levied on the driver or his insurance by the city would be subject to dispute in court.
Statement from the Amicus Editorial Board regarding the incident is as follows:
“We urge the city government to carefully consider our reporting on the issue of low-hanging powerlines. The fact that this incident did not result in any fatalities is fortunate, and it highlights the need for the city to evaluate the height of the powerlines to government standards in order to prevent any potential future incidents.”
Aidan Etkin contributed reporting.
Photo credits to Nikita Osadchiy & Aidan Etkin.
Edited by Arabelle Rossi & Zoey Chazin.