One dead after parking lot collapses in New York (+ videos)

One person was killed and five others were injured when a parking garage collapsed in lower Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, New York Fire Department Chief of Operations John Esposito said.

The parking garage was a four-story building that “collapsed to its foundation,” said Kazimir Wilenczyk, acting commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings.

Officials said they believed it was a building collapse.

Firefighters used a robotic dog and drones to search for people inside the building because it was “totally unstable,” New York Mayor Eric Adams told a news conference.

Esposito said it appears they have already located all the people in the building.

“We’re trying to see if we can get close enough to make sure there’s nobody in the cars,” Esposito said.

A parking lot has collapsed in Manhattan, New York City, and several people are reported to be trapped in the rubble.

The reasons for the decline are still unknown. pic.twitter.com/SdgqMXXdIE

— Noise on the Internet (@RuidoEnLaRed) April 18, 2023

Four of the injured were taken to a hospital in stable condition, Esposito said. A person does not want medical help.

At least one construction worker was trapped on one of the upper floors of the parking garage and, despite being alert and cautious, was unable to get out to the lower floor.

New York Fire Department officials were able to save him by pulling him through the roof of a nearby building and lowering him to safety, Esposito said.

Firefighters initially began searching the building, but the building continued to collapse and the decision was made to remove all rescue personnel from the site due to its instability, Esposito said, making the demolition “a very dangerous operation.”

Engineers from the city’s Department of Buildings are continuing to review nearby buildings, drone images and building records, and investigate the cause of the collapse, Wilenczyk said.

Mayor Adams said there were no apparent violations or active complaints before the building collapsed.

“Cars were falling into the hole in the middle of the parking lot.”

Zach Powers, a freshman at Pace University, told CNN he was in his dorm room Tuesday afternoon.

“It lasted 10 seconds, it was surreal,” Powers said. “Then I see smoke outside our window, so I go to the window and see cars falling into a hole in the middle of the parking lot,” he added.

Powers said it looked like a cave floor. Fearing the worst, she put on her shoes and ran out of her bedroom.

“We left the building before the smoke cleared,” he said.

After he left his bedroom, Powers said he found two people on the ground across the street from where the collapse occurred. He said firefighters were tending to them.

Video taken by Powers from his seventh-floor bedroom shows a collapsed garage with several damaged vehicles.

A parking garage that collapsed in lower Manhattan on Tuesday has six open violations, three of which are classified as dangerous, according to New York City Buildings Department records.

The three open critical breaches date back to 2003, 2009 and 2013.

According to the officials, “defective concrete with back cracks”, “defective and broken fire escape”, “loose piece of concrete at risk of falling in several places” and “defective exhaust” were the top two critical violations described. Summary of online violations.

According to a summary of online breaches, the 2013 critical breach focused on improper access to exits.

To date, the building’s owners have paid a total of $2,200 in fines for three open dangerous violations, according to building records.

Since 1976, it has received a total of 64 citations, including citations from the Department of Buildings and Administrative Inspections and Investigations/Environmental Control Board.

The building was built in the 1920s and converted to a parking garage in 1957, according to New York City building records.

#Manhattan:
For a parking lot collapse in New York. pic.twitter.com/0vCKTcVm4o

– Why is this a trend? (@porktendencia) April 18, 2023

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