NYC crane collapses during fire, injuring 11, officials say

A crane collapsed Wednesday morning on Manhattan’s far West Side after it caught fire, sending debris hurtling to the street below and injuring 11 people, including two firefighters, according to New York City officials.

Mayor Eric Adams' office said a fire broke out in the engine compartment of the crane and firefighters were responding before the crane collapsed. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Adams said. 

The FDNY said all of the injuries were minor.

Adams said the city was fortunate that the collapse happened in the earlier part of the morning before more people were in the area, near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

"As you can see from the debris on the street, this could have been much worse," Adams said at a morning news conference. "We are extremely fortunate we were not during the busy time of the day."

Among the injuries were a 31-year-old teacher and a 49-year-old man, said City Councilman Erik Bottcher, who represents the area.

The collapse occurred at 550 10th Ave., near West 41st Street, FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said.

The call came in about 7:24 a.m. for a fire in the engine compartment above the roof line, about 45 stories up. During the firefighting response, the boom and a 16-ton load crashed to the ground, Pfeifer said.

One of the firefighters reported chest pains and was taken to the hospital, according to Pfeifer.

Video shows smoke emanating from the top of the crane and its top collapsing, striking a building and then the street.

"The crane operates above the roof line and a beam that goes out carries the weight of concrete, and that weight of 16 tons is attached to a cable," Pfeifer said. "As the fire heats the cable, the cable weakens to a point where it loses its strength, and that's where the collapse occurred."

Neighboring buildings were evacuated, and firefighters worked from those buildings to extinguish the blaze.

More than 200 firefighters and medics responded to the scene.

Bottcher said the crane was next to a residential high-rise tower.

The building, which is under construction, is 54 stories tall and intended for mixed use, according to the city building commissioner, Jimmy Oddo.

The crane operator, seeing the fire, tried to extinguish it using a handheld extinguisher but was overwhelmed and had to exit the cab, according to Pfeifer.

Oddo said the city is looking into what happened as well as the project’s general contractor and those involved in the crane operations.

The crane is owned by the New York Crane & Equipment Corp., one of the city's most widely used crane providers, officials said. The Queens-based company has been involved in other crane problems in recent years, leading to criminal charges and new safety measures around New York City's crane operations.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

In May of 2008, a collapse of the company's tower crane killed two workers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The company and its owner, James Lomma, were acquitted of manslaughter and other charges; a mechanic pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide.

With The Associated Press