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You're Riding The Bus Minding Your Own Business And Then BOOM: A Manhole Cover Rips Right Through The Freakin Floor
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 6, 2015
Modified Aug 6, 2015
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 6, 2015
Modified Aug 6, 2015
Share
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In case you've forgotten all about the exploding chair that killed a boy in China, here's a new thing for you to worry about: a manhole cover ripped right through the floor of an MTA bus in the Bronx, injuring a woman who was sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why you should never leave the sanctity of the pillow fort under your bed.
Transit Workers Union official Frank Austin tells the Daily News the bus driver "thought something exploded on the bus until he saw what it was." The Midday Manhole Surprise occurred around noon on Tuesday as the B11 bus rolled by the intersection of 170th Street and Inwood Avenue. The woman sustained minor injuries, mainly from the splintered wood, and was treated at Lincoln Hospital, according to the News.
It's unclear how the hell this happened—Austin says this is the first time he's seen something like this in his 27 years on the job. The FDNY did not immediately respond to a request for information about the woman's injuries. Nobody wants to talk about this. [See update below.]
Manhole covers do explode up off of manholes from time to time, especially in the early spring when the salt that's spread to melt the snow has had time to eat through electrical wiring. There was no fire accompanying this explosion, leading the DEP to speculate that the bus's tires hit the manhole at just the right angle to send it popping up like a 300 pound tiddlywink.
YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. DRINK YR WORRY JUICE.
UPDATE 11:35 a.m.: A FDNY spokesman confirms that the unnamed manhole cover victim was transported to Lincoln Hospital with a leg injury, not St. Barnabas hospital as previously reported.
Tagged
fear
manhole covers
manholes
MTA
the bronx
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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