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Parking Garage Boss Ordered Attendant To Work During Sandy, Then He Drowned
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 14, 2012
Modified Nov 14, 2012
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Courtesy Lizzy Ratner/The Nation
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 14, 2012
Modified Nov 14, 2012
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Anthony Narh, a Ghanaian immigrant in his 50s, was one of 43 New Yorkers who lost their lives during Hurricane Sandy, but only one of two who died in Manhattan. (The other Manhattan death occurred inside a commercial building at 90 Broad Street, where 55-year-old Frank Suber was likely drowned by flood waters.) Police said Narh drowned in a vehicle inside a Tribeca parking garage, but until yesterday the exact circumstances of his demise remained unclear. Now the Nation reports that Narh was a parking attendant at the garage, and it turns out he had been ordered to work by "the big boss."
The underground garage is located next to a residential building on Laight Street, blocks from the river and at the heart of Zone A. Most of the residents had fled by the time Narh showed up for work on the afternoon of October 29th, Anastasia Ratia, an architect and designer who lives with her aunt at 92 Laight Street, was on her way out of the area when she encountered Narh. She tells The Nation:
“I said, what on earth are you doing here?” recalled Ratia, 34, who grew emotional as she recalled the story. “And he said, I was called in to come.” When Ratia asked whether the garage’s manager had asked Narh to come in, Narh placed the responsibility higher up. “He said, ‘No, the big boss.’ And I just said, that’s craziness. They’re just cars!”
Another source tells The Nation that the manager of the garage insisted that attendants remain behind to watch over the cars. We called the company that owns the garage to ask about the circumstances that led to Narh's death, and were told to call another time. The company operates nine parking garages in NYC; should you be curious about their other locations, they're all listed here.
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anthony narh
hurricane sandy
tribeca
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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