Copper thieves cause NYCT service disruption

Crews work to repair damage caused by copper thieves.

MTA New York City Transit / Marc A. Hermann

Wednesday's commute for riders on New York City Transit's (NYCT) A Line was delayed due to damage caused by copper cable thieves who vandalized cable from subway tracks near Howard Beach, Queens.

“This morning’s service disruption was directly caused by the theft of cable from along the subway right of way. This led to delays and crowding along all 31 miles of the A Line train and forced thousands of Rockaways customers to use shuttle buses to get to work,” said MTA New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco. “We are working closely with the NYPD Transit Bureau to help them investigate this crime and identify the culprits responsible.”

The loss of the subway power cables forced the MTA to suspend service between Rockaway Boulevard and Broad Channel stations and replace it with shuttle buses during the morning rush. NYCT said the crime also disrupted service along the entire length of the A and C lines.

The power cable was presumably stolen to be sold as scrap. At least 500 feet of the valuable cable was discovered stolen from roughly 12 locations along the A Line train tracks near Howard Beach, and some signal equipment and track components were damaged as well by electrical current that could not flow through the cable. Crews are working to rebuild the damaged infrastructure.