Even forking over $50,000 a year for parking can’t help some Coney Island residents keep their cars — or their lives — safe. That’s because bottle-slinging hoodlums have made parking underneath the West Eighth Street subway station a nightmare.
“My daughter is afraid to go to the car, she was almost hit with a bottle!” said Galina Veksler who has lived at Brightwater Towers for 30 years, and who wants the MTA to install a barrier “before someone gets killed.”
The woman said that her car was struck with debris tossed from the station on four separate occasions — the last time on May 11 which she claimed caused $5,000 worth of damage to her 2007 Lexus.
Rick Pasnotta, who manages the luxury apartments, says other residents have also reported damage to their cars done by the projectiles, yet letters to the MTA from Brightwater management have gone unanswered — a claim refuted by MTA officials who say they haven’t received any complaints.
The slinging sorties began about six years ago after the MTA renovated the station, said Veksler. She blames the new design which she said is a launching pad for dirty deeds because it allows people to stand at either end of the upper platform and look over the railing.
At least one other neighbor has stopped parking his car under the station because he fears for his son’s safety, said the woman, adding that she would park her car outside the lot if she could, but it’s difficult to find a spot in the summertime.
“After 11 am, forget about it!” she moaned.
