By Kerry Burke, Elizabeth Keogh
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Five people were injured when a boom truck malfunctioned at a Manhattan construction site Tuesday, officials said.
Police and members of the FDNY were initially called to the corner of W. 207th St. and Ninth Ave. in Inwood around 2:25 p.m. for reports of a crane collapse.
When they arrived, first responders realized the piece of machinery was actually a built-in crane on a boom truck, the FDNY said in a post on X.
At 2:26pm, the FDNY responded to 3880 9th Avenue for report of a crane collapse. This was not a crane collapse, rather a smaller boom truck. Three people with non life-threatening injuries have been transported to area hospitals.
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 9, 2024
UPDATE: A total of five people have been transported from the boom truck collapse at 3880 9th Ave in Manhattan. One is serious but non life threatening, the others are minor. pic.twitter.com/oBwCPtvwPh
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 9, 2024
The laborers were using the boom truck to move rebar, according to a construction worker at a lot across the street.
“It snapped right there and it came down with a boom,” Paul Tyson told the Daily News. “One of the guys was buried and they were searching for him. They carried him out and it looked like he had a broken leg.”
Medics transported three injured construction workers to an area hospital, where they were expected to recover. Two others were treated on the scene.
The most seriously injured worker suffered a broken femur, said a law enforcement source.
“The first thing you have to wonder is if it was overloaded,” Tyson said. “Once it got to that height with that weight, the boom just came apart.”
Demolition permits attached to the address were first filed in May 2022, Department of Buildings records show.
Last month, a man was injured working at the lot. A construction safety enforcement agent inspecting the site determined the general contractor failed to communicate required information to workers, records show.
A 17-story mixed-use project was under construction at the scene of Tuesday’s incident. Two other projects, including a massive 30-story affordable and middle-income housing project, are underway at the same intersection.
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