Eight people were injured when the cable of a crane - carrying a 5-foot bucket of materials - came loose near the 53rd floor of the under-construction Bank of America building in Midtown yesterday afternoon. The bucket them hit a number of windows as it tumbled down, before falling behind some scaffolding. The FDNY said, "We determined that it hit parts of the building, and took a lot of glass down with it."
Shards of glass fell to the sidewalk and street, and some of the glass that fell was very fine that, according to a construction worker who spoke to the Post, "it look like water was coming down." Debris also fell - a piece of wood hit a fruit stand vendor, who told the NY Times that he took cover the stand - and when he emerged, it was covered in glass. Luckily most of the injuries were minor - scrapes, bruises, etc.
The back window of one cab was nearly totally taken out by falling debris. The authorities quickly closed many of the streets in the area so the Department of Sanitation could clear the debris and the FDNY and Buildings Department could inspect and secure the building.
The structure, also known as 1 Bryant Park, sits at the busy corner of 42nd Street and 6th Avenue and it is supposed to be the second tallest building after the Empire State Building. The NY Times reports that there have been three other incidents of falling debris at the site since January of last year. DOB has issued a stop work order on the property.
Photographs from dm.NYC's photo set of the scene on Flickr
