Windows Smashed In 36 Subway Trains, Vandalism Causes Mass Delays: MTA

NEW YORK CITY — A vandal or vandals shattered easy commutes for hundreds of thousands of New York City commuters during rush hours after they smashed dozens of windows on scores of subway trains, MTA officials said.

The transit crime wave affected 36 trains, saw 78 windows smashed, caused service to be fully suspended on the W line and prompted further delays for D, N, Q and R trains in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, officials said.

The damage likely will cost $500,000 to repair, they said.

"P----- off," is how Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, described his feelings after the daylong vandalism streak.

"I have train crews sitting in that break room over there right now who don't have W trains to run," he said during a news conference in Whitehall Street-South Ferry Station, "and they want to be out there."

The 24- to 36-hour smashing spree is under investigation and, as of Wednesday morning, NYPD investigators still didn't know exactly how many vandals carried it out or whether it unfolded on moving trains or within train yards, authorities said.

But Davey said the vandal or vandals will be caught. Their images were most certainly captured by the MTA's extensive camera system, he said.

"I don't know of a place that has more cameras other than a Las Vegas casino than we do," he said.

"We will find you."