Crews from the Department of Buildings worked to
evaluate the stability of a building in Brooklyn on Tuesday after an MTA bus
plowed into it.
Authorities say the bus drove into the apartment building in Prospect Lefferts Gardens on Lincoln Road
around 2 p.m. on Monday.
Officials say 16 people were injured, including
13 who needed hospitalization.
The MTA says the 55-year-old driver has been on
the job for 13 years and has a safe driving record.
Crews set up a wooden barrier around the property
on Tuesday until the bus can be safely removed.
Neighbors say there is a doctor's office in the
bottom of the building, but it was closed at the time of the crash.
Caroline Pettie, who has lived in the area for
around 30 years, says she has seen cars drive through the fence of the church
across the street.
Pettie says she saw the bus coming down Bedford
Avenue and that he wasn’t speeding or doing anything concerning. She believes
the crash happened because he was trying to avoid serious injury or death.
“He tried to avoid everybody so he swerved and
he crashed into here, I guess to save the passengers because there was people
on that bus,” she says.
The people who live in the building are being
temporarily housed until the building is safe to return to.
One neighbor who goes to the doctor’s office in
the building told News 12 that patients were told they are working to find
another office for now.