1 dead, several injured in parking garage collapse in New York City
A parking structure in New York's Lower Manhattan area has at least partially collapsed, killing one person and injuring several others, officials said Tuesday.
The collapse happened shortly after 4 p.m. ET, and people were reported trapped inside the building at 57 Ann Street in the Financial District, between Nassau and William streets, said NYC District 1 Councilmember Christopher Marte on Twitter. Fire Department officials confirmed there are people injured, CBS New York reported.
Six workers were inside during the collapse at the four-story building, fire officials said. One of those workers died. Four others were taken to a hospital in stable condition and another person refused medical attention.
The New York Police Department and the mayor's office have advised people via Twitter to stay away from the area. New York City Department of Buildings engineers were on the scene to conduct a structural stability inspection of the building. They were also checking adjoining buildings, acting Department of Buildings Commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik said in a news conference.
"Four story building, all the way pancaked, collapsed, all the way to the cellar floor," Vilenchik said.
Firefighters went inside the building, but they pulled out over safety concerns, officials said. A robot dog was sent inside to sweep the scene instead. A drone was also used.
"At this time, this building is completely unstable," Mayor Eric Adams said during a news conference.
Some cars inside the parking garage were crushed, fire officials said. They said they were working to check if anyone might have been inside a car, but rescuers believe no one is inside the building any longer.
The cause of the collapse is not yet clear, but there's no reason to believe this is anything other than a structural collapse, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
"I should mention also that there was some active violation on the building, dated back to 2003. But in 2010, it was application filed, which don't indicate that the violation was corrected, but it was filed," Vilenchik said. "There are some active permits on the building, one of them is related to electric work on the premises."
A DOB spokesperson said there were four open DOB-issued "OATH/ECB violations" at the location, with the most recent being from 2013. OATH summons are issued when a property or construction does not comply with city construction codes. There are two additional open DOB-issued "DOB violations," the spokesperson said, which were issued for nonsafety related defects found during periodic elevator inspections.
The New York City Sheriff's Office parks some of their vehicles at the location, a spokesperson confirmed. They had four vehicles at the garage. All personnel with the Sheriff's Office were accounted for after the collapse.
Pace University, which is nearby, canceled classes at its New York City campus. Their buildings at 33 Beekman and 161 William were evacuated, the school tweeted.
Service on six subway lines was impacted by the collapse, NYCT Subway tweeted. Trains on the 2, 3, A, C, J and Z lines were running at lower speeds in the area.