This has not been a very good few weeks for the Sanitation Department. Alleged blizzard work slowdowns, slow plowing, stuck plows, toppling gravestones, lingering garbage... and yesterday, two workers "crashed their garbage truck into a slow-moving freight train along the Brooklyn waterfront," according to the Daily News.
The workers were near the Sanitation Department garage at First Avenue and 51st Street in Sunset Park. According to the News, "The train tracks run along the western edge of First Ave., meaning that sanitation trucks have to cross the tracks in order to access the garage. Sanitation officials are investigating the accident, but it appears the truck may have driven into the moving train. The front right section of the truck and the front passenger side door were damaged. Truck's windshield was cracked."
The NYNJ rail train was apparently traveling at a slow speed, and a witness said the train's operator "was making a lot of noise, and beeping its horn" but the truck didn't slow down, with another person saying, "The truck was coming so fast, he wasn’t able to stop. He hit the front of the train." The witnesses think the truck was trying to beat the train.
The two workers, a man who has worked for the department for nine years and a woman with four years experience, were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition.
