Blame crew in ped injury under tracks

It’s an MTA basket case.

Transit officials on Monday blamed a subway crew for dropping a metal basket from a set of Brooklyn elevated tracks over the weekend that struck and injured a pedestrian on the street below.

Transit workers on Sunday morning were installing and replacing baskets designed to catch dangerous debris near the Alabama Ave. station on the J and Z lines, said interim NYC Transit Senior Vice President of subways Frank Jezycki.

Instead, the basket itself (inset) became a piece of debris.

“As they were moving a rubber mat, which is a safety device to protect the employees from the electrified third rail, they knocked this basket from the elevated structure down to the sidewalk,” said Jezycki. “We believe that there were several procedures and protocols that were in place that were not properly followed.”

The pedestrian hit by the falling basket was taken to Jamaica Hospital with serious injuries, but was listed in stable condition on Sunday, authorities said.

Jezycki added that the incident is still under investigation, and that the workers will be disciplined as is necessary.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last year launched an effort to inspect and replace some 325,000 baskets in place along the city’s 168 miles of elevated subway tracks after several frightening reports of debris falling from the structures.

The basket wasn’t the only item that fell from elevated subway tracks over the weekend. A wooden plank came loose from the Nos. 2 and 5 train tracks near the Freeman St. station in the Bronx about 9:20 p.m. on Saturday and fell onto a car below, according to an internal MTA incident report.

Cops said no one was injured in the incident.