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Photos: Car Drives Into Canal Street Store
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 21, 2012
Modified Aug 23, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 21, 2012
Modified Aug 23, 2012
Share
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Just before 5:30 p.m. this afternoon, a car crashed into a store on Canal Street by Greene. According to the FDNY, the driver was extracted and taken to Bellevue Hospital. However, the store's owner was taken to the hospital as well, according to her husband, Chong Lama, who told Gothamist, "I heard BOOM and saw the car there smoking. We couldn't get out!"
Apparently the driver jumped the curb and headed straight into the store, which sells tourist souvenirs. The structural integrity of the store, located 314 Canal Street, is being inspected by the Department of Buildings.
Lama also said that five people were in the store, but no customers. One employee Jahir Rahman says he would have been killed had he not gone to bathroom because he sits in the front, selling watches, right where car slammed into the building, "All day I sit right here. I am lucky!"
Tagged
canal street
car vs. building
Chinatown
crash
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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