New Video Shows MTA Bus Slam Into Brooklyn Building; MTA Calls It 'Disturbing On Many Levels'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There's new video of Monday's bus crash in Brooklyn, igniting a war of words with the transit union over what happened.
As CBS2's Jessica Moore reports, video from inside an MTA bus shows the chaotic scene Monday afternoon when a driver appears to lose control and veer into oncoming traffic and into a building at Bedford Avenue and Lincoln Road in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
The video stops as the bus plows into the brownstone.
"I looked at it go by me and right into the building," said witness Prentis Mitchell.
The MTA described the surveillance video as "disturbing on many levels" and says it "raises questions about whether basic safety rules were followed."
"We're very upset that this video was leaked by the transit authority," said JP Patafio of TWU Local 100.
The union representing the driver say the MTA is throwing him under the bus. They say the 14-year veteran with an exemplary record got up to change the bus's run number. When he sat back down and released the emergency brake, the bus lunged forward.
"He was attempting to stop the bus and it wouldn't stop," Patafio said. "We have to look at the design of the interior of the bus and we have to make sure there were no mechanical issues."
Monday the MTA said no apparent mechanical issues were found in the 45,000 pound bus.
Sixteen people were hurt in the crash, but none seriously injured, including the driver.
"Right now he's still recovering. He's traumatized. He steered clear. I mean, there were no serious injuries or worse and that's because he steered clear," Patafio said.
The bus is still lodged in the brownstone. Crews had to put up walls to keep people from messing with it.
The owner is working with the Department of Buildings to shore up the structure so the bus can finally be removed.
