Woman rescued from Poughkeepsie building 'conscious and alert': Mayor

Show Caption Hide Caption Agencies work to extricate woman from Academy Street building Raw footage of the scene on Academy Street on Monday.

More than four hours after she was pinned down by debris in the ground floor of 15 Academy St., a woman was extricated and is "conscious and alert," according to City of Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison.

The woman had been trapped by heavy piece of debris on her lower body, following a structural collapse at 19 Academy St. earlier Monday, according to Rolison.

Responders worked slowly to prevent injuring the woman.

OWNER: Poughkeepsie building that collapsed had history of structural issues

Three City of Poughkeepsie firefighters suffered heat exhaustion; Rolison said he does not think any suffered serious injuries.

City of Poughkeepsie police say the initial collapse at 19 Academy St., a vacant building, occurred around 4:04 p.m.

Rolison said debris fell onto 15 and 17 Academy St., which are occupied, mixed-use (residential and commercial) buildings.

Police said the collapse caused a partial collapse of the roof of 17 Academy St.

The initial collapse was likely caused by thunderstorms in the area, Rolison said. The storm produced wind gusts exceeding 60 mph according to the National Weather Service.

Surrounding buildings were evacuated Monday evening due to forecast high winds, Rolison said.

Responders working to save woman trapped in Poughkeepsie building City of Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Mark Johnson discusses the efforts of responders on Academy Street following Monday's building collapses.

An area of downtown Poughkeepsie is closed for "at least the next several hours" to non-emergency traffic, according to police.

One man who was initially trapped was extracted around 5 p.m. He was removed on a stretcher and appeared to be conscious. The second woman was extricated around 8:30 p.m.

Rolison said responders were dealing with extreme heat inside the building, and have set up a bus to act as a cooling station. Responders are being rotated out of the building every 10 minutes.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday night released a statement praising the relief efforts.

"I commend the heroic first responders whose swift response saved the life of a woman trapped by the building collapse in Poughkeepsie. While I am relieved that it appears no lives were lost by this tragedy, my thoughts and prayers are with the woman who was hurt.

"State personnel and assets have been deployed to the scene, and we are working with local authorities to clear the debris and ensure the safety of all. We will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground."

Bricks and debris littered Academy Street in the area of the buildings. The area is roped off by yellow police tape, a perimeter which has been expanded multiple times. Dozens of onlookers stood behind the tape into the evening, many of whom recorded the scene on smartphones.

Structural collapse in City of Poughkeepsie Firefighters on Monday responded to a structural collapse on the east side of Academy Street between Main Street and Cannon Street.

Most of the bystanders who were early to arrive on the scene were unsure of what happened, having only caught glimpses of the damage after the collapses.

Dilia Amaya, owner of Hefzi-bá Restaurant on the corner of Academy and Cannon, said she heard the collapse from the restaurant.

“I heard the sound of the windows of the cars smashing and the wind and the thunder,” she said.

DATELINE: Story by story, Manning Cleveland built city's first 'skyscraper' on Academy St.

2016: Project aims to revitalize what once were city's tallest buildings

The seven-story building that initially collapsed, 19 Academy St., was built in 1911 as part of businessman Manning Cleveland's plan to bring skyscrapers to the city. The building has hosted multiple businesses in the past century. In recent years, multiple developers have had plans to revitalize the property, but none have come to fruition.

The storm originated over Ulster County between 3 and 4 p.m., meteorologist John Quinlan of the National Weather Service in Albany said. It moved through Poughkeepsie around 4 p.m. and continued eastward into Litchfield after 4:30 p.m.

Though it was short-lived, Quinlan said the storm was powerful enough to make damage to the building possible.

“It’s happened many times,” Quinlan said, citing damage to edifices during storms. “We had tremendous damage in the middle of May. Those storms produced more damage than this storm.”

Dutchess County Assistant County Executive Ron Hicks said the block will likely be closed for a period of time, and suggested individuals who work in the businesses on the block can call the Dutchess One Stop career center.

The center, located at 191 Main St. in Poughkeepsie, can provide temporary assistance of guidance, he said. The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and available at 845-473-9000.

The building at 19 Academy St., along with 21 and 23 Academy St., is owned by Pok 23 Acad and Pok Acad, limited liability companies, according to state Environmental Conservation records. The companies are listed as having a New York City address.

“The site currently contains three, multi-story, commercial, residential and mixed-use (commercial and residential) buildings,” a site description reads. “All buildings are currently vacant.”

In April, the department posted a notice that it had received a Brownfield Cleanup Program application for the site.

The Brownfield program is “designed is to encourage private-sector cleanups of brownfields and to promote their redevelopment as a means to revitalize economically blighted communities,” the department said.

Peter Papamitoukas, co-owner of 17 Academy St., declined to comment.

Journal staff writer A.J. Martelli contributed to this report.

Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter: Geoff_LW; Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518 Twitter: @pojonschutzman