“I could see the boom of the crane connected to the cabin from where I was stopped, so my initial thought was that something hit the building or that snow had caused the roof or an awning of some sort to collapse”.
Advertisement
The crane collapsed on Worth Street near Church Street at about 8:25 a.m., authorities said.
An unnamed city official told the New York Times that as many 15 people may have been hurt in the accident.
It was not yet known if wind played a role in the incident. It could take longer for the street to reopen as officials inspect it and fix damaged pavement, he said.
The Department of Buildings said it implemented numerous recommendations and there is more oversight of cranes than ever before.
Fire officials say one person was killed and two seriously injured.
“My family knows I work all over the five boroughs daily and they can’t really keep up with where I am most of the time”, added Natale. Just 24 hours earlier inspectors for the city’s Department of Buildings gave the crane the all clear.
Police say a 73-year-old man who was sitting in his auto when the crane collapsed was injured.
A collapsed crane lies on the street on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, in NY. They said they were also monitoring multiple gas leaks, none of which had risen to risky levels.
“A lot of people are very lucky that they didn’t lose their lives”, said one man.
The mobile crane boom also landed at the intersection which also smashed auto roof and also stretched to a bigger block after completion of the accident at the historic building in the lower Manhattan which was about 10 blocks north of World Trade Center.
Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said inspectors found no problems then with the crane, “but obviously, it requires investigation in terms of the way this was done”, he said.
Advertisement
There have been at least four significant crane collapses in the city in the past 2 1/2 years, according to city Comptroller Scott Stringer. The FDNY is on the scene, and pinpoints the address of the collapse as 40 Worth Street. Officials have recovered an onboard computer that would reveal the angle of the 565-foot boom before it fell over Worth Street, he said. Almost 80 percent of the construction workers killed have been employed at nonunion sites that hire poorly paid immigrant workers. In 2013, a crane collapsed in Queens, injuring seven.
