Sunnyside Post
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is working to remove some overhead tiles along parts of the 7 line viaduct after chunks of the decorative yellow and green strips dislodged and fell to the parking lot below—even piercing a car windshield—last month.
The agency inspected the entire viaduct for loose tiles on Jan. 17, two days after the Sunnyside Post reported that pieces of the decorative terra cotta tiles had fallen near 45th Street and Queens Boulevard, with one of the 4-by-8 inch tiles slicing through the windshield of a parked car underneath.
The report came after a local resident, alarmed after stumbling upon the scene at the municipal lot, sent images to the site that showed the damaged car windshield with the tile still wedged upright in it, and a pile of yellow and green tiles strewn on the ground by the car’s tires.
The MTA said the inspection done four weeks ago revealed a few locations along the roughly 20-block viaduct where tiles showed some minor signs of movement, but were not actually loose. The agency insisted that the identified tiles did not pose a public risk to safety.
