Firefighters Respond To Partial Building Collapse In Midtown; No Injuries Reported
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The FDNY responded to a partial building collapse in Manhattan on Thursday morning. City officials told CBS2, fortunately, the structure was vacant at the time.
The scene in Murray Hill was still active in the afternoon as another piece of the building came down. Nearly the entire side wall at 211 East 34th St. is gone, but luckily no one was injured, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
Chopper 2 was over the scene not long after the initial collapse, which happened just before 11 a.m. There was no immediate word on the cause, but the city Department of Buildings said there was ongoing excavation at the neighboring property on the corner of 34th and Third Avenue, making way for a new 35-story building.
Firefighters, the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Protection responded.
"Do we have anybody missing? Do we have anybody trapped? Do we have anybody injured? And once we realized the accountability from the construction, the construction manager, that there was nobody missing, it really changed the situation," FDNY Assistant Chief John Esposito said.
Area residents were also thankful.
"I'm just glad that no one got injured, that it's empty. It's terrible, terrible," Josie Beves said.
The building next door, 213 East 34th was evacuated as a precaution. It has some apartments above a cleaners.
Keep in mind if you're driving in the area, 34th is still shut down between Second and Third.
