Huge construction crane collapses in New York City, leaving 1 dead and 3 injured
US News
Huge construction crane collapses in New York City, leaving 1 dead and 3 injured
A huge construction crane being lowered to safety in a snow squall plummeted onto a Lower Manhattan street Friday, killing a Wall Street worker in a parked car and leaving three people hurt by debris that scattered as the rig’s lengthy boom fell, officials said. The mobile crane’s boom landed across an intersection, smashed several car roofs and stretched much of a block after the accident around 8:25 a.m. at a historic building about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center.
You could feel the vibration in the building.
Robert Harold heard a crashing sound as the rig fell right outside his office window
Crane safety came under scrutiny in the city in 2008, when two tower cranes collapsed in Manhattan within two months of each other, killing a total of nine people. The accidents spurred the resignation of the city buildings commissioner and fueled new safety measures. Friday’s accident happened as workers were trying to secure the crane against winds around 20 mph. Because the crane was being lowered, workers were directing pedestrians away from it on a street that otherwise would likely have been teeming with people.
Thank God we didn’t have more injuries and lose more people. It’s something of a miracle that there was not more of an impact.
Mayor Bill de Blasio
