Post by Admin on Feb 5, 2016 17:50:50 GMT -4
A 38-year-old man was killed and three others injured when a construction crane toppled over and smashed into a busy Tribeca street Friday morning, officials said.
The crane crashed into a row of parked cars when it capsized onto Worth St. near Church St. about 8:30 a.m. as heavy snow fell onto the city and winds hit 20 mph.
The lone fatality, identified by police as David Wichs, who lives on the Upper West Side, died at the scene, Mayor de Blasio said.
"He was an angel, an absolute angel," said a man leaving Wich's apartment building on W. 81st St.
"He was a wonderful, wonderful person. He was the best, the absolute best, and that's what makes this tragedy that much greater," said the man, who identified himself as the family's rabbi.
Wich, born in Prague, was a Harvard-educated immigrant with a degree in mathematics. He had been working at a trading firm, Tower Research Capital.
Of the wounded, Dawn Kojima, 45, and Thomas O'Brien, 73, suffered the most serious injuries but were not critically hurt, cops said.
Law enforcement sources said that O'Brien had just dropped off his daughter for an appointment and was in his parked car waiting for her to return.
Wichs was near O'Briend's car when the crane began its violent downward arc -- and dashed the unsuspecting man to the ground.
It also crushed much of O'Brien's vehicle, but the 73-year-old miraculously survived with only a head laceration.
Video taken by a pedestrian in the seconds after the shocking crane plunge captured the elderly man, shaken and dazed, holding a hand to his head inside a black car.
He's clearly visible through the shattered sun roof as construction workers rush to his aid, the video showed.
Kojima told the Daily News she was hit by falling debris on the head and the leg. The gash on her head required nine staples to close.
The 45-year-old was on Worth St. grabbing a cup of coffee before going to her job at The Gap, when a sudden noise made her look up, she said.
"I totally got hit by something, it's hard to describe, it was really painful," she told The News.
Kojima, O'Brien and a third pedestrian with minor injuries were brought to area hospitals.
A fourth injury was reported by a firefighter responding to the scene, but officials said it was also minor.
Mayor de Blasio rushed to the scene to assess the damage, setting up a makeshift press office inside the headquarters of the Detectives' Endowment Association on Worth St.
The crane tumbled out of control as workers tried to move the heavy machinery into a secure position because winds topped 20 mph, he said.
"This incident occurred literally as they were lowering the crane to secure it," de Blasio said.
An inspector with the Department of Buildings had been on the site Thursday because workers were extending the crane -- which has a boom length of 565 feet, the mayor told reporters.
DOB reviewed the work and approved it, he said. The crane was installed at 60 Hudson St. on Jan. 30.
"No work was done this morning because the crew made the decision to bring the crane down to the secure position," the mayor said.
The horrible accident could have been even more tragic, he added.
"The crew was directing people away from Worth St. as the crane was being lowered," the mayor said.
