The W train, which stands for “windowless,” was suspended Wednesday after vandals broke windows and service on the line was suspended.
MTA officials said 97 subway car windows were shattered overnight on 45 different trains running on the subway’s letter lines.
The fiasco forced transit crews to take cars with broken windows out of service and relocate them to accommodate trains. Officials said there were too few subway cars to keep the W train running all day.
MTA officials say the agency doesn’t have enough spare windows in stock to replace all the damaged windows, which are mostly used on older lines, and crews are forced to remove windows from out-of-service trains. They say they are forced to take it away. Authorities estimated damages at $500,000.
“It may seem like a prank, but we don’t know what the criminals were thinking, but it doesn’t help serve New Yorkers in any way,” said New York City Transit Authority President Richard Davey. That’s for sure,” he said.
A New York City Police Department report said windows were smashed from inside the car, and the smashing likely began around midnight Wednesday and continued into the morning. Police have not confirmed whether the damage was caused by one person or a group of vandals.
Police said those arrested for breaking windows will face felony charges. Davey promised to appear in court every day if there is a trial.
The MTA faced a similar dilemma in 2020, when more than 300 windows were broken on Line 7 over the summer. The agency and the NYPD offered a $12,500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, but the perpetrator was not identified.
The NYPD is still reviewing surveillance footage from Wednesday’s crash, but Davey said the MTA has “more cameras than a Las Vegas casino.” He said the windows were mainly broken at the rear of the train, away from the conductor’s cabin.
“I have no doubt that we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Davey said.
MTA officials said they expect W service to be completely shut down by the Thursday morning rush.
The New York City Police Department has announced that it will increase the number of officers patrolling subways.
This article has been updated with the MTA’s latest broken window and subway car counts. There was also an update on the status of the W train Thursday morning.