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[UPDATE] Harlem Building On 125th Street Collapses On City Bus
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 20, 2011
Modified Sep 20, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 20, 2011
Modified Sep 20, 2011
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Portions of a two-story building at West 125th Street and 8th Avenue in Harlem have collapsed onto a city bus. Twitter user @eightyocho writes that the scene is "pandemonium," and we're receiving reports that two police officers may have been injured, and that the building was slated for demolition. Various agencies are staging at the scene, and the FDNY tells us that the call came in at 9:26 a.m. We'll update as more details become available.
[UPDATE / 10:07 a.m.] FDNY tells us there are seven confirmed injuries, two of them NYPD officers. None are considered critical, and all were transported to St. Luke's.
[UPDATE / 10:25 a.m.] The FDNY is now reporting that there are 17 injuries, not seven, and that none are life-threatening.
[UPDATE / 10:58 a.m.] The Times speaks to Sasha Chavkin, who was on the westbound BX15 at the time of the collapse. “We pulled into the stop and I heard a falling sound of something collapsing toward the back, and the back of the bus filled up with smoke,” he said. “People were running from the back and screaming. After about a minute the bus driver let everyone off the bus. “I talked to a kid in the back who said he thought he was going to die. He said rubble had fallen through the windows of the bus.”
It's still unclear how many of the injured were on the bus at the time, or if the two injured NYPD officers were responding to the incident or were hurt during the initial collapse. While the Times reports that 13 were injured, the FDNY confirmed that it is 17.
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125th street
building
city bus
harlem
MTA
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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