Global Courant 2023-04-19 08:17:17
NEW YORK — A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in Lower Manhattan’s financial district, killing a worker, injuring five and crushing cars as concrete floors collapsed like a stack of pancakes, officials said.
Vehicles tumbled into what appeared to be a frozen stream of sedans and SUVs. People nearby described a terrifying rumble, followed by screams.
Ahmed Scott came to pick up his car after work and discovered a disaster in the making.
In a video he shot from across the street, someone yells off-camera, “Guard! 911! 911! A building is collapsing on Ann Street,” followed by the sound of something collapsing. About 45 seconds later, two women run out and say the building fell while they were in it. A man stands on a fire escape while bystanders try to find out to figure out how to help him descend. He eventually did, Scott said.
“I hope no one else is in there,” Scott remembered as he thought, worried about the garage workers he’d come to know.
For Jadess Speller, a student at nearby Pace University, the collapse “felt like an earthquake — like the Earth opened up inside, like it was so violent.” Other students described seeing cars crash into the building.
A vehicle ended up in the garage entrance on its end, according to a photo posted by Mayor Eric Adams’ office.
Authorities believed everyone in the building was responsible, but searches continued Tuesday night to make sure no one was in the crushed cars, said fire chief John Esposito. A garage worker was rescued through a neighboring roof after being trapped on an upper floor, he said.
“He was conscious and alert and moving around calling us. He just couldn’t come down,” Esposito said. Four of the injured are hospitalized and in stable condition, and the fifth refused medical attention, he said.
The garage collapsed about 4 p.m., a few blocks from City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge, and about half a mile (0.8 km) from the New York Stock Exchange. Pace evacuated an adjacent dorm and classroom and canceled all evening classes as it assessed the buildings’ safety. School officials sent the displaced students to a student center while they worked out other accommodations.
Don Mulligan was on the 17th floor of a nearby hotel when he heard a roar like a plane flying overhead and felt the high-rise sway.
“You knew something was up,” said Mulligan of Cincinnati. The hotel had been evacuated, he said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse. Records from the City’s Buildings Department show that the three-story building has been a garage since at least the 1920s, and there are no recent building permits.
Messages have been left for a parking company that lists the garage as one of its properties.
The collapse left the building “completely unstable,” Adams said at a news conference. Esposito said firefighters had to back off because of the danger and instead search with a drone and robot dog.
The building had “completely collapsed, all the way to the basement,” said acting building commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik.
William Flashnick, 19, was sitting in a Pace classroom when he and his friends thought they heard an explosion and ran to a window to check. When they opened the window, a thick plume of dust rose into the air.
When it cleared, they peered down into the parking garage, where cars had been smashed and an upper deck had burst open.
Flashnick initially worried all their lives. One of his first thoughts was of the World Trade Center, which towers over the neighborhood.
“We panicked. Given the history of this place, it’s a little scary,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Deepti Hajela contributed.
