This morning, shortly before 8:30, a crane fell down on Worth Street in Tribeca. The pictures show extensive damage, but the full extent isn’t known yet.


Over 100 firefighters have reported to the scene at Worth St. and Church St., and the FDNY has confirmed one fatality, a person sitting in a car on Worth, and two people in serious condition. Officials on the scene are checking 40 Worth St for damage. CBS2 reported that the crane is the property of Bay Crane.


Meanwhile, there are also reports of people trapped in cars and of Con Edison being called to the scene to investigate the smell of gas. Worth St. is closed between Church St. and Hudson and the 1, 2, and 3 trains are bypassing Franklin and Chambers St. in the area in both directions.

In a press conference later the morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the crane was in the process of being secured when it went down. The manufacturer’s requirement was that it be brought down and secured when winds reached 25 miles per hour. The site has been active since January 30, with Department of Buildings inspectors approving an extension of the crane yesterday. The maximum length being 565 feet long. The crawler crane that collapsed was owned by Bay Crane and operated by Galasso Trucking and Rigging.

Additionally, all crawler cranes (which this one was) and tower cranes have been ordered secured. In response to a question about New Yorker’s safety, the mayor said:

I want people to hear me loud and clear: We’ve had some construction site incidents that are very troubling. We have more and more inspectors that will be on top of that, we’re going to be very tough on those companies. This is a totally different matter. This was a company that was putting their crane into the secure position as we would have wanted them to and that we inspected as recently as yesterday. This is an entirely different matter.


FDNY and Con Ed will be sweeping for gas issues all day, with gas being shut off by early this afternoon. The city is anticipating at least several days of disruption for the immediate area.

NBC has a video of the collapse:




Top image: Associated Press

Contact the author at katharine@io9.com .