A crane accident on 97th Street and Columbus Avenue partially collapsed a sidewalk shed overhead a pedestrian walkway on Thursday afternoon, drawing large crowds of firefighters, police officers, building inspectors, and local residents.
According to a New York City Department of Buildings spokesperson, Ryan Fitzgibbon, the mobile crane on the northeast corner of 97th Street at 775 Columbus was in the process of being demobilized for the day when it hit the sidewalk shed, damaging it enough that part of it collapsed onto the walkway below. No one was injured, but the street was temporarily closed off immediately after the accident.
The site of the incident was a13-story building now under construction by Columbus Square developers, the Chetrit Group and Stellar Management.
“The cause is still under investigation,” she said, adding that the initial investigation led them to believe that the weight of the crane actually hit the shed, though the cause of the collision is still uncertain.
Fitzgibbon said that the Dept. of Buildings issued violations to two companies, U.S Crane and Rigging LLC and PWV Acquisitions LLC, along with a personal violation to the crane operator. The extent of the violations will be determined in court, but could entail fines upwards of $25,000.
For many locals on site, Thursday’s accident was a real scare—and one more complaint to add to their list of grievances about the entire development.
“That crane goes to infinity, as far as I’m concerned,” Sue Brisk, local resident at 792 Columbus Ave., said of her continual anxiety. “I’m just so relieved that no one got hurt, but that being said, I’ve been watching that crane for weeks.”
Sam Kim, a manager at Maxene Cleaners on the opposite corner from the accident, said, “There was a lot of people here. Everybody came out.” He added, “They made a really big deal, but it is dangerous. If I lived there, I’d be scared,” pointing to the 20-story residential building that sits in the crane’s shadow.
A local Park West Village security guard, Debra Wright, said she was about to head towards 97th Street just before the accident happened. “I was walking that way, but I decided to go the other direction, and thank God,” she said.
For Andres Puerta, an organizer from the New York City District Council of Carpenters who protests the partially non-union project on a daily basis, the accident was proof that changes in the labor set-up need to be made immediately. “No one was injured, but could you imagine? That is a lot of weight,” he said, adding that, though accidents can happen on any job, “They are trying to do it cheap, and cheap can be dangerous.”
For one construction worker on site, Eddie—who declined to give his last name, the crowd of onlookers overreacted. “The whole thing was blown out of proportion,” he said.
Another worker added, “It was a small accident. It’s back to work tomorrow.”
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