Manhattan crane catches fire near Hudson Yards, collapses onto street below, six injured

A blazing construction crane atop a high rise near Hudson Yards collapsed and plunged 45 stories to the Manhattan street below Wednesday morning, with only a half-dozen minor injuries reported as terrified pedestrians ran for their lives.

The crane caught fire on top of 550 10th Ave. near 41st St. at 7:25 a.m. before breaking free and tumbling down in mere seconds with a 16-ton load of concrete and several loud bangs.

The crane bashed into a building across the street as it fell, with a plume of thick black smoke soon visible above the city skyline for miles.

“Thank God the injuries were minor,” said Mayor Adams at the scene. “This could have been much worse. We were extremely fortunate.”

Michael Lyles, a maintenance worker at a nearby skyscraper, credited construction workers with saving lives by scrambling to shut down the streets and steer pedestrians away from the potentially lethal situation.

“The construction crew was very on point,” he said. “When they saw there was a fire they started blocking off the street and pushing people back. That’s when the crane fell.”

Neighborhood resident Perry DellAquila, 56, said he was checking e-mails on his computer before the sound of the collapsing crane echoed through the local streets.

“I heard the crash and I was like ‘Wow that doesn’t sound right,’” he said. “And when I just looked out the window, I saw the last piece of debris hitting the (street). It hit the side of the building and then hit the middle of the street.”

Fellow local resident Elan Levine, 28, was walking his dog Arya when the collapse began and recalled how their morning outing turned into instant chaos.

“It was deafening,” said Levine. “I didn’t freak out but my dog did ... There were firefighters, police and ambulances. And within two to five minutes, the arm fell.”

His building at 561 10th Ave. was evacuated, with FDNY responders advising him to stay outside.

City Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said an investigation into what went wrong is already underway at the building intended to rise 54 floors above street level.. Monadnock Construction, the acting general contractor for the site, had no immediate comment when contacted by the Daily News.

The five-alarm blaze brought 50 FDNY units with 220 firefighters to the chaotic scene. The FDNY deployed drones to make sure the fire was extinguished.

Local woman Gwyneth Leech, a painter who specializes in construction sites, recalled how quickly things escalated.

“First we heard a huge clattering noise at 7:30 a.m.,” she recalled. “Then we came down and saw the crane was on fire.”

After catching fire, the arm of the crane broke loose and fell in an arc onto cars along 10th Ave. Officials said the fire started inside the crane at 550 10th Ave., with the cable breaking loose after it was weakened by the blaze.

Stunning video showed the crane arm slamming into a neighboring building before swinging back into the high-rise where the accident occurred and falling straight down. The crane arm appears to have landed within the construction zone of 550 10th Ave. and not on the street.

Adams said four people suffered minor injuries, with falling debris cited earlier for injuring two victims. Two firefighters also reported minor injuries, officials said.

The burning crane is owned and operated by Lomma Crane & Rigging in South Kearny, N.J., according to signs posted on the rig.

A crane owned by Lomma collapsed on the Upper East Side near E. 91st St. back in May 2008, killing two workers. The city temporarily revoked Lomma’s crane operators license as a result, with the businessman acquitted of manslaughter during a 2012 trial.

After a prolonged litigation battle that went to appeals court, the families of the dead workers received $35 million from the company.

A jury found that the company’s owner, construction magnate James Lomma, made a series of “calculated decisions” over several months that caused the crash.

Lomma filed for bankruptcy shortly after the 2008 crash.

When reached Wednesday, a staffer at Lomma could not immediately comment on the Hudson Yards collapse.

Firefighters evacuated neighboring buildings, including at least one hotel and closed streets to cars and pedestrian traffic as they battled the blaze.

Videos posted on social media show the mangled arm on the sidewalk and thick black plumes of smoke pouring from the top of the crane as firefighters rained water onto the flames from adjoining buildings.

“Sounded like lightning or an explosion from the top of a crane on 41st st.,” Josh Page tweeted. “Firefighters hosing it down from the building parallel.”

The 47-story luxury rental tower the crane was atop of was still under construction and expected to be completed next year, according to the developers website.