Car rolls off World’s Fair pier into water in Queens: witnesses

A fleet of cops and firefighters were dispatched to the waters off the World’s Fair Marina pier in Queens Friday after an unoccupied car sank to the bottom of Flushing Bay, officials said.

The white vehicle may have been rolled into the bay on purpose, witnesses to the bizarre scene surmised.

Harbor units from both the NYPD and the FDNY raced to the pier, at the site of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, at about 9 a.m. after witnesses called 911 and said the car had rolled down a boat ramp into the drink.

Divers were sent into the water, but didn’t find anyone in the car or surrounding area, an NYPD spokesman said.

Witnesses reportedly said they saw a man drive the car onto the boat ramp, with its nose facing the water. The man then got out of the car and opened the truck moments before the vehicle rolled into the water.

It was not immediately clear if the owner of the car accidentally left the car in neutral or if he purposely gave it a Viking funeral — sans the flames.

Those at the scene said the car didn’t have a boat trailer hooked up to it. Witnesses also found it odd that the car was positioned nose first toward the water, since cars and trucks used for towing a boat out of the water usually reverse down the ramp so they can easily hitch onto the boat.

An investigation into how the car ended up in the water is ongoing, cops said.

Police on Friday afternoon were arranging to have the submerged vehicle towed back onto dry land. A tow truck sent to the scene wasn’t strong enough to pull the car out of the water.

Originally Published: October 18, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.