Neighbors describe MTA bus crashing into Burger King in Kensington
Police say a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus crashed into a Burger King overnight in Kensington.
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Members of the Kensington community say they are still processing the wild scene overnight, when an MTA B16 bus crashed into the side of the Burger King at the corner of Fort Hamilton Parkway and Dahill Road.
Julia Ashikhmin lives nearby, and says she was out walking her dog just after midnight across the street when the incident occurred suddenly.
"I see a bus just like zoom at like a really fast pace and dart around a corner. I honestly thought that like the bus got highjacked," says Ashikhmin.
Instead, the MTA says it believed the 60-year-old driver had a heart attack, causing him to lose control and crash into the Burger King with two passengers on board.
"It was crazy, it was really loud," remembers Ashikhmin. "It was a lot, it was kind of scary actually."
While the driver was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition, officials tell News 12 that both passengers are expected to be OK.
As for the Burger King, the New York City Department of Buildings has placed a full vacate order on it, and cleanup has just begun.
Other neighbors, like Margaret Mirailh say they feel lucky the crash happened when the restaurant was closed, they still feel it will be a hit to the area, saying "it's just a sad thing to see. It will take a while for it to renovate and fix it up again, so that's a loss for the neighborhood, for people who use Burger King and go there."
Management tells News 12 off camera that the 15 or 16 people who work at the Burger King will be given the option of working at another nearby location until this one is back open.
They say they should have a better idea of a timeline on Friday, but are expecting it to be at least two to three weeks.
