TAILS & RAILS: Two kittens frolic on the tracks — a whisker from the third rail — at Brooklyn’s Church Avenue station yesterday, prompting officials to halt trains on the B and Q lines. (Gabriella Bass)
STOP AND FRISKY: Officer Jason Bolger rescues a gray tabby that, along with another kitten, had been hiding out under the third rail. (Gabriella Bass )
AND THAT’S TWO: MTA worker Nathaniel Howard rescues the second cat. (Gabriella Bass)
(Gabriella Bass)
(Gabriella Bass)
(Gabriella Bass)
(Gabriella Bass)
STOP AND FRISKY: Officer Jason Bolger (top) rescues a gray tabby that, along with another kitten, had been hiding out under the third rail (above) yesterday. (
)
It was the purr-fect storm for Brooklyn commuters.
A major subway route took a two-hour catnap yesterday while two adorable kittens risked their nine lives to frolic on the rails at the Church Avenue station in Ditmas Park.
The gray tabby and black kitten napped under the third rail, dodged speeding trains and played cat-and-mouse with MTA workers during their daylong misadventure on the B and Q line, which began at around 11 a.m.
MTA officials cut power to a large portion of the line to keep the felines from getting squashed by the Manhattan-bound trains at the station.
The Q was down for two hours, and the B was without service for 90 minutes — enraging commuters who were sent back to Coney Island.
“My boss is gonna be mad at me for being late. He’s not gonna believe this one!” said one rider, who declined to give her name.
“Can you believe this? All for goddamned cats! I hate cats!” another straphanger hissed.
Russell Johnson, 60, was more worried about the furballs’ safety.
“I just hope it doesn’t touch the third rail,” said Johnson, who was on his way to work in Kensington. “I love cats. I hope they rescue it.”
Local service on the B resumed at 12:39 p.m., and Q service was restored shortly before 1:10 p.m.
But the gray kitten was back on the tracks by 1:30 p.m, even though subway service had been fully restored.
It meowed underneath the third rail on the Coney Island-bound tracks next to discarded batteries and iced-tea bottles.
Ten minutes later, the feline was reunited with its partner in crime — and the two fell asleep cuddling together under the third rail.
Neither was struck by any of trains at the station.
The cats were finally rescued from the tracks when two MTA workers and two NYPD transit cops caught them in a milk crate at around 6:30 p.m.
After the 40-minute rescue, the officers lifted the kitties onto the platform, where they were safely transferred into a cat carrier.
“All in a day’s work,” MTA worker Nathaniel Howard joked. “You never know from one day to the next.”
The kittens were taken to the Animal Care and Control Center in East New York, Brooklyn, where they will be evaluated and fed.
The center said the cats will be placed on a three-day hold in case they have owners. After that, the cute kitties will be put up for adoption.