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What we know about the deadly parking garage collapse in Lower Manhattan
By
Phil Corso
,
Catalina Gonella
and
David Brand
Published Apr 19, 2023
Modified Apr 20, 2023
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Li Qiang for Gothamist
By
Phil Corso
,
Catalina Gonella
and
David Brand
Published Apr 19, 2023
Modified Apr 20, 2023
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City officials are still picking up the pieces after a parking garage partially collapsed in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, killing one garage worker and injuring several other people.
The nearly 100-year-old building at 57 Ann St. in the Financial District buckled shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday with six parking garage workers still inside, officials said. One of them died in the collapse, while four others were taken to a nearby hospital. One refused medical attention, officials said.
The cause of the collapse remained under investigation Tuesday night.
Li Qiang for Gothamist
'I know I'd seen people in there'
Ahmad Scott was about to walk into the building before it started to collapse. His car was parked on the ground floor.
"I'm just worried about the people inside because that's the most important thing," he told Gothamist. "I know I'd seen people in there, and as it fell, I didn't know what the hell was happening."
Staten Island resident Valerie Malloy also said she had to wait and see if she'll ever drive her car again. She was parked in a neighboring parking garage on Beekman Street that was closed to customers Tuesday night as inspections continued.
"At the end of the day, I can replace the car, right?" she said. "So if it's totaled, I have insurance and I'll get a new car. You can't replace people, so I'll just be happy for that. Inconvenience is small compared to life."
Problems in the past
Kazimir Vilenchik, the city's buildings commissioner, said the building had several open violations dating back 20 years, including issues like sagging beams and cracking concrete. The owner had filed to fix those issues by 2010, but it was not clear if that had happened.
Building records also showed that the city's fire department requested a structural stability inspection following the parking garage collapse on Tuesday. The building also received two elevator violations in 2021, but both were dismissed.
Wreckage from the collapse.
Li Qiang for Gothamist
Local Law a little too late
A law requiring safety inspections at every New York City parking garage set a deadline that came too late for victims of the deadly collapse.
Parking garage owners in most of the city still have four years to comply.
The rules, part of a larger buildings package passed in 2021 known as Local Law 126, require all of New York City’s more than 1,200 parking garages to undergo an inspection by a certified professional by the end of 2027. The requirement is phased in by borough. Structures south of Central Park and on the Upper West Side are due for an inspection by the end of this year. This would include the garage that caved in at 57 Ann St.
Garages in the rest of Manhattan and Brooklyn have until the end of 2025 to comply, while owners in the other three boroughs have until the end of 2027.
The building's owner is 57 Ann Street Realty Associates, Inc. — a company headed by Alan Henick — which is connected to a Brooklyn-based carpet and linoleum installation firm, according to building and finance records. The garage is operated by Little Man parking, according to its website. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. Calls and voicemails left with Henick have not been returned.
Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, head of the housing and buildings committee, said the collapse shows the importance of new construction codes passed in 2022, which include more rigorous inspections for parking structures.
“It’s great that the new code contains this new provision, but this tragedy highlights the urgent importance of closely monitoring our oldest structures,” Sanchez said in a text message, adding the tragedy also highlights work of the buildings department in ensuring the safety of the city’s 1 million buildings, which are “currently experiencing an extraordinarily high vacancy rate.”
Rubble that fell onto the street just outside of a parking garage that collapsed in Lower Manhattan.
Derek French/Shutterstock
Bragg to investigate
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating the collapse, his office told Gothamist on Wednesday.
Bragg’s spokesperson Kay Nguyen said the office “cannot confirm details of an ongoing investigation” when asked if prosecutors had been in touch with the owners.
The sudden and fatal collapse has left many New Yorkers concerned about the safety of their own buildings.
New York City has more than 1 million buildings, and many of them are over a century old. The city’s buildings department, housing agency and fire department perform safety inspections, often in response to complaints. The Department of Buildings encourages New Yorkers to contact 311 or visit 311Online to report unsafe construction practices or improper use of a building.
Fatal victim was longtime manager
The manager of the parking garage has been identified as the only person killed in the destruction so far, according to multiple customers at the garage.
Willis Moore, whose LinkedIn page and employment records cite him as a “location manager” for Little Man Parking, worked at the garage for at least 14 years, according to a woman who knew him.
Maria Mammano, who used to work in the area and parked at the garage for 14 years, remembered Moore as the "the nicest guy you ever want to meet.”
“I was in such a state last night," she told Gothamist by phone. "I didn’t even sleep last night. We are all just devastated over him. He knew everybody on the block, he knew all his customers, he knew all the neighborhood people."
Robo dog to the rescue
Not long after the city rolled out its new $750,000 robotic dogs, or Digidogs, the FDNY put the four-legged cyborgs to the test in the immediate aftermath of the garage collapse.
The Digidogs maneuvered into the wreckage to livestream video just as firefighters were being asked to vacate the building because its structural integrity remained at risk.
“This was an extremely dangerous operation for our firefighters,” FDNY Chief John Esposito said.
New rules
Gothamist compiled a list of at least seven other building collapses since 2019, including the most recent incident in March 2023, when a wall collapsed at a demolition site in SoHo. Five people died in total, and several more were injured, according to previous reports on Gothamist.
The city started phasing in new structural inspection requirements last year under Local Law 126, and garages in Lower Manhattan were first in line. That means they're required to have their conditions assessed and filed to the city's Department of Buildings by the end of the year.
It was not clear if the site of Tuesday's collapse, however, had filed an inspection report yet.
"Unfortunately, the rule came a little late," said Eric Cowley, an engineer based in Stamford, Connecticut, who is qualified by the city to conduct inspections under the new law.
Brittany Kriegstein, Samantha Max, Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, Christopher Werth and Bahar Ostadan contributed reporting.
This story is being updated as new information becomes available.
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
Phil Corso
Phil Corso is the evening news editor at WNYC/Gothamist. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Catalina Gonella
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David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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