Debris from subway rails smashed a man's windshield and dented a car in Queens

In New York, drivers are used to surprises on the road: pedestrians, pits, but what to do when danger comes from above? Elliot Rahimi, driving through Queens last weekend, came across exactly this. Now he has a damaged car, a repair bill, and a lot of unanswered questions, ABC News 7 reports.

In an exclusive interview, Rahimi spoke about the incident.: "We were driving right here when something fell off the overpass, damaging the windshield and leaving a dent on the hood."

Together with his friend Tamir Malik, Rahimi went through a real nightmare. Debris rained down on them from the railway tracks of Line No. 7. 

Two huge, rusty bolts pierced the hood of his Audi and shattered the windshield.

"The whole car was covered in glass," Rahimi recalls. Malik, who was sitting in the passenger seat, added, "There was a big bang and then the sound of glass exploding. There were splinters everywhere: on his legs, in his legs, on his chest."

Rakhimi admitted that at first he thought they were being shot at: "The speed with which the metal hit the car was such that for a second I thought it was a bullet."

The incident occurred around noon on Saturday under the Line 7 overpass at Queens Plaza in Long Island City. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that debris falling from above has caused damage to cars.

In 2019, similar incidents occurred three times in a month. In Woodside, a wooden beam pierced an Uber driver's SUV, narrowly missing him. Then, in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, a piece of concrete left a crack the size of a softball on the windshield. A few weeks later, a metal bolt that fell from Line A damaged a car in the South Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens.

After these incidents, the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) stated that it takes the incident seriously and has increased track checks. 

An MTA spokeswoman, Kayla Schultz, said in a statement: "New York City Transit is investigating an incident involving an object believed to have fallen from elevated tracks in Long Island City. The crews have gone to the site and will carry out the necessary checks." 

However, this is not enough for Rahimi.: "It's just amazing. I can't believe this has happened many times and still hasn't been fixed."