Collision Sends MTA Bus Crashing Into 2 Queens Businesses
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was chaos in Queens.
Surveillance video captured the moment a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus crashed into two eateries, sending glass and chairs flying.
The incident happened at around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday in Woodside, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported.
The bus slammed into what's usually a busy pizza shop and bagel store on the corner of 58th Street and Woodside Avenue. Thankfully, no customers were inside at the time. Crews spent the day working on boarding up both businesses.
The video shows the glare of headlights and seconds later the bus makes an unintended stop through the front window of Little Caesars, shattering a wall of glass and sending chairs and tables careening.
Even after the impact the bus rolled forward into the restaurant. It also struck Bagels Plus next door. Ray Rahman, the store's owner, said there were no customers inside during the 5 a.m. hour, but two employees were prepping food.
"The way the bus came in ... looks like 50-60 miles an hour," Rahman said. "My employee was inside working and they thought they saw the light and the bus is coming and they run away in the back."
The MTA said the Q-18 bus was headed south on 58th when, "an automobile moving at a high rate of speed hit a red light and struck the bus on its side, causing the bus to leave the roadway and strike a building."
"I was wondering maybe somebody cut him off," Woodside resident Oscar Morales said. "It was a very bad choice because what about the people there? Will kill people."
"The building could have collapsed. It could have been a whole lot worse," Corona resident Kevin Dawson said.
Police said there were no passengers on the bus. The MTA said the driver was being treated for wrist and foot injuries at a hospital. The business owners are now stuck picking up the pieces, and said it's a miracle no one was killed. If the incident had happened just a few hours later, the crash could have been fatal.
"Between Bagels Plus and here it could have been at least 15-20 people and they'll be dining next to the café and that could have been fatal," Rahman said.
It's not clear how long it will take to rebuild the businesses.
"Thanks God no fatality and no injury because you can replace the damage but you cannot replace human beings," Little Caesar's partner Mohammed Rahman said.