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For Whom the Toll Brothers' Crane Tolls
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Yesterday afternoon, part of the East Village came to a standstill as emergency workers tried to secure a construction crane after a big chunk of its rigging fell onto a cab. Amazingly, the cabbie and passenger were not seriously hurt, even though the front of the cab was insanely crushed (see this picture). The crane itself became unstable, and the workers inside the crane's cab were thrown around, leaving them injured. Police officers had to climb up 20 stories to rescue the workers, who suffered bruises and broken bones.
People in neighboring buildings were evacuated (including NYU students, who were shuffled to another dorm and Red Cross shelters) as police and firefighters tried to secure the crane. The NY Times reported that many people were allowed back in their buildings at 10PM and 1:30AM, but more work would be done. The crane's owner, New York Crane, told the Daily News, "Right now we're just trying to get this thing resolved. Try us again tomorrow," while the Buildings Department told the Times that there had been eight minor violations at the site, whose contractor is Tishman - but more would come with this incident.
And the the Daily News has this quote from the cab's passenger, Sissy Siganoff of Brooklyn:
"I never want to see a cab again. I'm in shock. We were waiting at the light, and it came down right on top of us. The windshield shattered. My mind went blank. I got out of the cab and sat on the sidewalk. God bless the people who came to help us. God was with us. God is good.
Definitely - we're still amazed that everyone made it through and that there weren't more injuries.
Top photograph from NYCviaRachel on Flickr; bottom photograph by londontube on Flickr
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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