Masked by meadow and darkness, thieves prowl the perimeter of the city's bus depot in Port Morris.
Yet in spite of three reported thefts of city property since January, the depot's fencing remains perforated with gaping holes.
"People just go in there and take what they want," said Freddy Rivera, 37, of Mott Haven, who often fishes the nearby waters at Randalls Island Park.
The Walnut Bus Depot, run by the Transit Authority, is home to 206 buses that serve 13 borough routes. Its facilities are used for bus maintenance and storage; it employs 689 workers.
At first glance, the depot's sparkling coils of razor wire define an urban fortress. Dual fences ring its perimeter. Two guards oversee the area 24 hours a day. Towers of halogen lights illuminate the night.
But beneath two lamps with burned-out bulbs, darkness shrouds the border. Here, thieves have snipped open the fence, infiltrated the lot, and made off with armloads of loot.
During the third weekend of January, a welding helmet and bus parts valued at $300 were stolen.
On Feb. 21, a laser printer valued at $1,050 was lifted from the depot's second floor.
And on March 8, $700 worth of items listed on a police report as "office equipment" were reported stolen.
Theft of transit property is not unusual, said Deputy Inspector Francis O'Hare of the transit police's special security division.
When told by ®MDUL¯The Bronx Beat®MDNM¯®MDUL¯®MDNM¯ of numerous cuts in the fence, O'Hare said he would dispatch supervisors to inspect the lot.
He also said reports of theft at the city's depots are down this year. In January and February, the transit police recorded $28,343 worth of theft, compared to $65,791 for the same period last year.
Outside the depot, evidence of shenanigans abounds. Near the gentle slop of the Bronx Kill tidal creek, vandals have flung more than 120 Plexiglas bus windows about the abandoned tracks of the Harlem River Yard. Their stickers read: Wheelchair Priority Seating. Won't You Give Up Your Seat For The Elderly?
Nearby is a spacious hole in the fence.
"We never see them when they cut it," said one guard, who also said prowlers enter the lot as often as twice a week. "All we can do is patch the fence."
Depot officials declined to comment on security, but one official said she suspects the damaged windows are from buses no longer in service, and may not fit buses in the current fleet.
"Some of the buses that were here before were scrap buses," said depot spokeswoman Linda Horan, describing retired buses that have since been carted off. "In all likelihood, those windows came from scrap."
Since early February, workers have sealed off one hole through the interior fence with 19 crimps of wire. But the exterior hole remains -- even after six weeks.
"Whether people are stealing parts or just doing vandalism, it's an attractive nuisance," said Jo Ann Katzban, of the Permanent Citizen's Advisory Committee to the MTA, a riders' interest group. "And it is a potential hazard to both the workers and the people who enter the lot."