Woman Hurt After Construction Chisel Crashes Through Window At Asphalt Green
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman was injured Wednesday by broken glass after a piece of construction equipment crashed through a window of a sports and fitness complex on the Upper East Side.
The incident occurred around 9:20 a.m. at the Asphalt Green Aqua Center on York Avenue at 91st Street.
As CBS 2's Dick Brennan reported, video shows that construction workers were trying to lift a manhole cover using two chisels when something went wrong.
"One chisel slipped out, spun off and crashed through the window of our fitness studio," said Carol Tweedy, Asphalt Green's executive director.
Carol Cocking, an employee at Asphalt Green, was working out when the window suddenly exploded and glass came raining down on her.
"Whatever it was, it was coming right at me," she told Brennan on Wednesday afternoon. "I saw it come through the glass, and it was coming right at me. You saw it. That's the last thing I remember before I was kneeling in a sea of broken glass.
"The whole window was caving in," Cocking said. "It was very loud. ... It was terrifying. My hands are still shaking. This was hours ago, and my hands are still shaking."
Cocking escaped with minor cuts and bruises.
"I got off really, really easy on this one," she said. "It could have been much worse.
"Right now, I sort of feel like I could walk through burning buildings unscathed," Cocking joked.
The construction was being done on a ramp that cuts through the fitness facility, leading to the controversial Marine Transfer Station project being built on East 91st Street.
The ramp has a kids' soccer field on one side and the fitness complex on the other.
"If the city is going to stick it to us and build this inappropriate site, then move the ramp away from children uses or Asphalt Green," Tweedy said.
No children were hurt in Wednesday's incident.
The city's Department of Design and Construction told CBS 2 the project has been suspended while it investigates.
The city said safety at construction sites is a top priority, and its projects have excellent safety records.
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