BY BEN VERDE
Crowds of spectators gathered
to watch as workers fi -
nally removed the city bus
that had been lodged into a
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
townhouse for four days.
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority towed
the B49 bus out of the historic
home on the corner of Lincoln
Road and Bedford Avenue
shortly after 11 am on June 11,
while a crowd of dozens of locals
and reporters looked on
and took videos.
“It’s something new, it’s
different, it’s exciting to see
something like this in the
neighborhood,” said Flatbush
resident Tamra Sangster, who
stopped by to watch the bus
get yanked out of the building.
“As soon as the city opened up
we go through this…it’s something
out of a movie.”
COURIER L 24 IFE, JUNE 18-24, 2021
The bus crashed into the
Lincoln Road townhouse on
June 7, when an MTA driver
lost control of it — later telling
witnesses his foot was stuck
between the brake and the accelerator.
The crash sent over
a dozen people to the hospital
with non-life-threatening injuries.
The vehicle remained
lodged in the building and
covered with a sidewalk shed
while Department of Buildings
Inspectors worked to determine
the stability of the
structure, which had an internal
load-bearing wall damaged
during the crash and was
deemed unsafe for occupation.
Department of Buildings
workers fi nished shoring-up
the building on June 10, giving
the go-ahead to the MTA to
make arrangements to move
The front of the bus was severely damaged. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
the bus, using a sizable Mack
tow truck.
The building remained
stable while the bus was removed,
with only a small bit
of debris coming loose once it
was unlodged.
Crowds applauded while
the vehicle was moved, and
a “move that bus!” chant
was started as the tow truck
pulled it down Bedford Avenue,
bringing it to a rest in the
middle of the road and offering
a glimpse for the fi rst time
at the badly damaged front of
the vehicle, which had its entire
windshield shattered during
the crash.
“This is better than the
playoffs,” one onlooker said.
Lincoln Road residents said
crashes along Bedford Avenue
are common, with the same
house hit by a car roughly 20
years ago, but the spectacle
of the vehicle was something
new.
“It’s a miracle no one was
killed,” said Andrea Clarke,
looking on at the shattered
bus after it was removed. “I’ve
never seen anything like it.”
MOVE IT!
MTA bus removed from
PLG house after four days
Let’s end this
pandemic for good
#VaxUpCUNY
so I can inspire others, especially
communities of color
!"
cuny.edu/vaxupcuny
/vaxupcuny
