Crane collapse kills 1, injures 3 and hits New York legal community hard
The collapse of a more than 500-foot-high construction crane in Lower Manhattan on Friday morning killed a man in a parked vehicle, injured three pedestrians and also hit New York City’s legal community hard, closing a law school, a courthouse and two legal aid offices.
It appears that no one was injured at New York Law School, a Manhattan civil court and the Legal Aid NYC offices, according to the New York Law Journal (sub. req.).
However, the buildings were closed as a precaution while they are assessed for damage and checked for potential gas leaks caused by the earthquake-like impact. The law school moved its administrative functions to the Manhattan district attorney’s office and canceled all classes and activities until Monday.
“We’re doing our best to ensure that safety is paramount,” Dean Anthony Crowell told the legal publication.
Court and legal aid functions at the affected courthouse and offices were moved to other locations.
A NBC News page provides a video of the crane collapsing as it was being lowered in an attempt to secure it against high winds. Bystanders apparently watching from inside the 30th floor of a high-rise building remark that towering arm of the machine is being brought down quite quickly and then begin exclaiming in alarm and horror as they realize it is falling. At street level, the base of the machine can be seen flipping upside down, with its tracks on top, around the time that the rest of the structure hits the pavement.
City officials said the crane had been inspected only a day or so earlier and there were no apparent violations of any building code requirements at the site, according to CNN and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The crane operator tested negative for alcohol, police said.
More people might well have been hurt if workers had not tried to block pedestrians and vehicles from entering as the crane arm was lowered, said Mayor Bill DeBlasio at a news conference held at the scene. “We lost a life, but if you go out there on the street and see what happened here, thank God it was not worse.”
