It’s raining rocks in Astoria

BY YALDAZ SADAKOVA

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 7:35 PM EDT

On a recent Sunday morning, Loretta Csikortos walked out of her Astoria home on 23rd Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue, and found her son’s red Ford Mustang with a shattered windshield and a dented trunk.

The next morning, two of her neighbors found their cars in a similar condition - one had a busted roof and the other had dents all over it.

All three vehicles had been damaged by baseball-sized rocks hurled during the night from Amtrak’s railbed along the Hell Gate trestle stretching over the houses, according to Csikortos.

Over the next couple of days, Csikortos left two voicemails for Amtrak asking that the company pay for the damages to her son’s car.

“I’ll fax the bill to Amtrak, and I’ll see what they’re going to do about it,” she said.

However, Csikortos said this is not the first time that trespassers broke into the Amtrak trestle with the majority of incidents occurring in the summer months.

Csikortos believes that the railroad company should respond to the numerous neighborhood pleas to tighten track security by boarding up or installing barbwire along the bridge entrances.

“They’ll do something when somebody gets killed,” she fumed sounding very skeptical that anything would get resolved.

However, after the incidents, City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who represents the area, fired off a letter to Amtrak echoing the sentiment for changes to prevent future incidents from taking place. Vallone suggested the company use surveillance cameras to help catch trespassers and urged them take concrete steps towards restricting trestle access.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured,” Vallone said.

Meanwhile, Amtrak has responded to Vallone’s calls for action with Amtrak police sending undercover officers to canvass the area and conduct surveillance, according to Amtrak spokesperson Clifford Cole.

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is continuing to investigate the incidents that Csikortos and her neighbors reported.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COUNCILMEMBER PETER VALLONE JR.'S OFFICE
Loretta Csikortos holds two of the rocks thrown from the Hell Gate trestle above her house that damaged her son’s car.