New York Department of Building officials vowed Thursday to get to the bottom of what caused a 180-foot crane boom to plunge 40 stories to city sidewalk after it caught fire and rained steel and glass on pedestrians, injuring about a dozen people.
“DOB engineers and crane inspectors have launched a comprehensive investigation into the crane collapse on 10th Avenue, to find out exactly why the collapse occurred and whether the incident could have been prevented,” Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said.
Officials said after the Wednesday collapse that all the inspections were up to date on the crane, which city records show was manufactured in January 2009.
Leaking hydraulic fluid dripping on a hot plate sparked the fire that sent a thick black plume of smoke over Midtown early Wednesday and triggered the collapse, Daily News sources said.
But many questions remain.
On Thursday, Monadnock Construction, the contractor on the project, brought in a mobile crane to move the wounded hoist away from the building at 550 10th Ave.
DOB inspectors and engineers braved the dizzying 550-foot high crane to collect evidence for their investigation and cleaned up the debris from the roadway and sidewalk, Oddo said.
“We are committed to safeguarding public safety during this recovery process and want to let the public know that the fire-damaged crane is structurally stable, and we have found no evidence that it currently poses an immediate hazard to public safety,” the commissioner said.
Over the next few days, the contractor will cut the boom into smaller pieces and cart it away. Another crane will be brought in to replace the broken construction lift.
Investigators will continue interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence, but will allow construction to continue on the lower floors of 550 10th Ave. after establishing the stability of the rest of the building.
When the crane’s boom fell, it also smashed windows and facade panels in the building across the street at 555 10th Ave.
An apartment in another building, at 561 10th Ave., was rendered uninhabitable when the crane’s hook slammed through the window and damaged the flooring, the Buildings Department said.
New York Crane and Equipment, which leased the crane to Valjato Engineering, owned cranes involved in two deadly accidents in 2008.
In May 2008, a collapsed crane killed two construction workers and injured 12 people, and landed New York Crane and Equipment owner James F. Lomma the on trial for manslaughter. He was acquitted in 2012, but a $35 million payout in a civil case brought by families of the dead workers pushed Lomma into bankruptcy.
Seven more people died when a New York Crane and Equipment machine collapsed in March 2008 on E. 51st St. near Third Ave. in an incident blamed on a worker’s improper method of securing the crane to the building. The worker was acquitted of criminal charges in the incident.
