a New York City parking garage collapses, killing one person; 5 wounded

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A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in the financial district of lower Manhattan, killing a worker, injuring five and smashing cars as concrete floors slammed on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, officials said.

The vehicles fell into what seemed like a freezing stream of sedans and SUVs. People nearby described an eerie roar, followed by screams.

“It felt like an earthquake,” said Liam Gita, a student at nearby Pace University.

“Just as the Earth opened up from within, so violent were things,” said another student, Jadis Speller, who initially thought a bomb had gone off. Other students described seeing cars crash into the building.

A photo released by Mayor Eric Adams’ office showed one of the cars landing on end at the entrance to the garage.

Fire Chief John Esposito said authorities believed they had located everyone inside the building, but searches continued Tuesday night to make sure no one was in any of the wrecked cars. He said a garage employee was rescued via an adjacent rooftop after he was trapped upstairs.

“He was conscious, alert and moving, calling us,” Esposito said. He said that four of the injured were taken to hospital and their condition is stable, while the fifth refused medical attention.

The garage collapsed at about 4 pm, a few blocks from City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge, and about half a mile (0.8 km) from the New York Stock Exchange. Pace evacuated the adjoining student residence and classroom building, and canceled all evening classes as it assessed the safety of the buildings. School officials sent the displaced students to a student center while they worked on other accommodations.

Don Mulligan was on the 17th floor of a nearby hotel when he heard a roar like a jet plane flying overhead and felt the impact of a high-rise.

“You knew something was going on,” said Mulligan, of Cincinnati. He added that the hotel had been evacuated.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse. City Building Department records show that the three-story building has been a garage at least since the 1920s, and there are no recent building permits.

Letters have been left for the parking company mentioning the garage as one of their properties.

Adams told a news conference that the collapse left the building “completely unstable”. Firefighters had to withdraw because of the danger, Esposito said, conducting searches instead with a drone and a robotic dog.

Acting Commissioner for Buildings, Kazimir Vilenczyk, said the building “was completely smashed, collapsing all the way to the basement floor”.

William Flashnik, 19, was in Pace’s classroom when he and his friends thought they heard an explosion and ran to the window to look. When they opened the window, a thick column of dust billowed into the air.

When it was cleared, they peered into the parking building, where cars had been dumped underground and the upper deck opened up.

Vlashnik was worried at first for all their lives. One of his first ideas was for the World Trade Center, which loomed over the neighborhood.

“We freaked out. “Looking at the history of this place, it’s a little scary,” he said.

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Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Dipti Hajela contributed.

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