A construction crane collapsed in lower Manhattan during a swirling snowstorm on Friday, killing one person, injuring three others and crushing cars parked in the street.
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De Blasio said at a press conference that an investigation was underway and that the crane operator was being interviewed.
Nyc Mayor Bill de Blasio said that it had been caused by high winds, and the victim was sitting in a parked automobile during the period of the injury.
A firefighter was also injured at the scene but it was not serious, officials said.
After the accident, the city ordered that the 419 construction cranes around the city be secured as a precaution. The wreckage of the crane collapse spanned two city blocks in the shadow of City Hall, Manhattan Federal and Manhattan Supreme Court.
Social media users began sharing shocking images and footage from the scene as the New York City Fire Department responded to reports of the crane coming down in Tribeca just after 8am local time.
Public transportation was delayed and subway trains were bypassing the area due to the collapsed crane.
The crane was being use to fix generators and air conditioners on the roof of a building on Hudson Street that once belonged to Western Union. It’s the first crane collapse in the city since 2008, De Blasio said.
The accidents spurred the resignation of the city buildings commissioner and fueled new safety measures, including hiring more inspectors and expanding training requirements and inspection checklists.
She said Mr Wichs was born in Prague, moved to the USA as a teenager and took every opportunity he could, graduating with a degree in maths from Harvard University.
“It was right outside my window”, said Robert Harold, who works at the Legal Aid Society. A woman who answered the phone there declined to give her name but said the office staff was “deeply saddened”.
In January 2013, a crane collapsed at a Queens construction site and injured seven workers. New York City is now experiencing a winter storm with wind gusts in the 20 mile per hour range.
The “crawler crane” is among 376 that dot New York’s skyline, performing construction work at the city’s skyscrapers.
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Since 2006, at least 21 workers across the country have been killed when the machines they rely on to lift heavy loads into the sky suddenly failed them, according to federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration figures obtained by NBC News.
