Crane Collapses in Lower Manhattan, Killing at Least One Person

A crawler crane being lowered due to inclement weather toppled over in New York City Friday morning killing one man and injuring three other people.

De Blasio said pedestrians were cleared from the streets before workers began to lower the crane, averting a potentially greater calamity during the morning rush.

The boom landed across an intersection, smashed several auto roofs and stretched much of a block after the accident around 8:24 a.m.at a historic building about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center.

“It was something of a miracle that there wasn’t more impact”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference. “We knew something was gonna happen, we asked the operator what are the odds of this crane collapsing the day it was being erected, and they said you have a better chance of winning the Powerball lottery”.

Mr Harold said he saw someone trapped in a vehicle and someone lying in the street.

The crane went up on January 30 and had been inspected as recently as Thursday, officials said. Bay Crane denied any comments.

She said she had been avoiding the street because the crane seemed unstable. None of the injuries was life-threatening, but three workers had to be extricated from beneath fallen machinery.

The crane had been used since January 30 at 60 Hudson Street, a New York City landmark once known as the Western Union building.

New York City is in the midst of huge building boom, with more cranes operating in Manhattan alone than any city in the nation.

It is a major telecommunications hub where equipment-cooling air conditioners and backup generators have been hoisted into the building for many years.

Paul Capotosto, treasurer of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association, said he and two other board officers rushed out of their nearby office when they heard the thunderous collapse.

Consolidated Edison spokesman Michael Clendenin told WCBS Newsradio 88 that utility workers were taking gas readings in the area and making plans to excavate and cap a low-pressure gas main in the wake of the collapse.

The FDNY says one person is dead and two others are seriously injured following a crane collapse in Lower Manhattan.

According to Mayor de Blasio, today’s crane collapse is the first of its kind in the city since 2008, which was a particularly tragic year for crane incidents.

Workers were lowing the machine at the time of the collapse.