Fire Damage From Homeless in NY Subway May Take 5 Years to Repair

A fire apparently started by a homeless person seeking warmth and shelter from last weekend's blizzard has damaged hard to replace switching equipment in the New York City subway.

A fire at a single subway station in lower Manhattan has halted service entirely along the C line and severely limited service along the A, and led officials to warn of persistent problems for up to five years.

The blaze, apparently started by a homeless person seeking warmth and discovered at about 2 p.m. Sunday, destroyed about 600 hard-to-replace electrical relays used to control signals on the Eighth Avenue line at the Chambers Street station.

NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter told a news conference that a full restoration could take three to five years and cost "several millions of dollars."

NY Newsday

The most disturbing aspect of this story is that if a homeless person could do this, what could a terrorist do?