Copper theft on second avenue News

Police in the 19th Precinct are investigating the theft of 160 feet of copper cable from a Second Avenue job site at 92nd Street.

Resident and Community Board 8 member David Rosenstein said he first heard about the theft on Monday, Sept. 14.

“I asked [Con Edison] workers today what they were doing at the [southeast] corner of 92nd Street and 2nd Avenue, as they were blocking two lanes, a concern for emergency vehicles,” said Rosenstein, a member of the board’s Second Avenue Subway Task Force. “They said they were replacing copper cables stolen at night from the newly reinstalled infrastructure below the street and above the station roof.”

A spokesperson for Con Edison initially told Our Town that 84 feet of cable was stolen at about 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, but later revealed 160 feet of cable had been taken.

“The theft has been reported to the 19th Precinct,” said Con Ed spokesperson Bob McGee.

An MTA spokesperson confirmed a theft occurred and indicated that there was more than once incident.

“There have been ongoing copper wire cable thefts from Con Ed manholes,” said MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz. “Recently, one of the contractors working on [the 2nd Avenue Subway] hired two security guards to help safeguard their materials and were able to avert theft on at least two occasions. NYPD is also involved.”

The MTA noted that the stolen materials belonged to a contractor and not to the agency, but did not return a request for clarification on who is ultimately responsible for replacing the cable.

Both the MTA and Con Ed refused to answer further questions as to the dollar value of the stolen copper cable, nor whether police were investigating the ongoing thefts as related to one another. McGee said he was coordinating with the MTA and NYPD on how much information to release to the public as of press time.

The NYPD’s public affairs department did not return a request for comment by press time, and repeated inquiries to the 19th Precinct went unreturned.