Tracie Strahan reporting on Amtrak suspension between New York City and Albany due to an unstable parking.
Structural problems at a parking garage in New York City have created a commuter headache for Amtrak passengers traveling between the Big Apple and Albany.
Service was disrupted Sunday afternoon after officials discovered a number of "structural issues" at the garage on 10th Avenue in Manhattan. Amtrak's Empire Line, it turns out, runs underneath the garage on the west side of the island, about 15 blocks north of New York-Penn Station.
The service suspension continued Monday.
The garage's owner contacted an engineer on Friday about a hole in the entrance ramp of the parking garage, a Department of Buildings spokesperson told News 4. Officials from the DOB, FDNY and NYCEM were subsequently brought to the scene to inspect the issue, finding cracked and deteriorating steel as well.
Here is a photo of a few of the holes in the garage ramp, which sit right above train tracks:
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"I could hear the tracks whenever I parked. I could hear the roaring of the train," said driver Okello Allen.
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DOB officials issued a vacate order of the garage and Amtrak planned to install "overhead protection" above the tracks below to keep operations running normally.
By that morning, installers alerted DOB to more structural defects in steel beams. The additional cracks and deterioration discovered on Sunday proved to great a safety concern and prompted a suspension of the Empire Line between New York City and Albany, as it was determined not to be safe for trains until repairs are made.
Travelers impacted by the suspension have the option to use their tickets on Metro-North between Westchester County's Croton-Harmon stop and New York-Penn Station. However, many travelers on Monday found those Metro-North trains were sold out.
Passengers can call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL for help with their ticket. Amtrak said change and cancelation fees will be waived for travelers whose trip has been impacted by the suspension.
Mayor Eric Adams posted on X, formerly Twitter, "As soon as the city became aware of the issue, @NYC_Buildings engineers quickly began assessing the situation, working with Amtrak teams and other city agencies to ensure the safety of passengers and pedestrians. Emergency work orders were quickly issued so the parking garage owners could begin addressing the issue."
The MTA said the Hudson Line of Metro-North was not being impacted by the ongoing issues. As of Monday morning, it remained unclear how long the suspension would last.
Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams said railroad officials don't know when full service will be restored.
The owner of the parking garage, Lineage Properties, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Icon Parking, which leases and operates the garage, said that structural repairs are the building owner's responsibility and that the landlord's engineers were already working to make fixes to the ramp and other structural areas.
Icon added that the earliest that the cars inside the garage can be removed appears to be Saturday, depending on "the DOB's approval of the landlord contractors' work."
There are 104 cars inside the garage, including those belonging to Icon employees, the garage operator said.
New York City officials stepped up the inspection of parking garages after a three-story parking structure in lower Manhattan collapsed in April, killing one worker, injuring several others and crushing dozens of cars. More than 1,000 inspections are due by the end of December, with more than 3,000 due by Summer 2024.
