By Mark Hallum
Police responded to an incident at Bayside Marina Tuesday afternoon in which a Jeep Cherokee had rolled into the water.
Edgar Quinones from Woodside had borrowed a friend’s car to pay tribute to another friend, Anthony Abud, who had died two days ago. Quinones went to the boat launch in Bayside, where Abud like to go, and placed flowers by the water.
He left the car on the boat ramp with the car in park. The car went in the water, and help came in the form of boats, scuba divers and helicopters to drag the SUV from the bottom of the bay.
“I’m not even sad about the car. I’m mostly just sad about my friend,” Edgar said without embarrassment.
Marya Hanon, 25, was out on an afternoon jog through Fort Totten Park when she came across the effort to recover the vehicle.
“I was jogging from Fort Totten and I saw all this traffic. And then, very rare to see on the jogging and biking path, there was an emergency vehicle, so I moved out of the way. Then all of a sudden as I got closer to this destination I saw a slew of police, FDNY, and ambulances,” Hanon said, while standing on the pier and watching as the scuba divers were busy making the Jeep buoyant enough for the tow trucks to drag.
NYPD was able to get an inflatable bag inside the vehicle and fill it with air, making the white roof of the car more and more visible as it rose and the tide went out.
Eventually, the car came out on its side and was flipped back upright, but it may not be going anywhere but the junk yard.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
