NYC garage collapse likely caused by too many cars on top floor

April 19, 2023

Preliminary FDNY reports said Wednesday that the deadly collapse of a Financial District parking garage was likely caused by the building’s age and the number of cars on its top deck — as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened a probe into the disaster.

Photos from the scene show numerous vehicles, many of them bulky SUVs, jammed together on the roof of the fallen structure — which left the building’s manager, Willis Moore, dead and five others hurt Tuesday afternoon.

“There’s over 50 cars on the roof,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference Wednesday.

“The building is not structurally sound, you think about hazardous materials that are in the garage, right gas tanks, fluids, further complicated by the fact that there are possibly some electric vehicles in that garage,” he added, noting the ongoing danger to investigators.

An internal memo from the FDNY said the working theory behind the cause of the disaster was that the three-story garage likely crumbled under the weight of the many vehicles on the roof.

The structure’s advanced age — it was originally built during the Coolidge administration in 1925 — also likely contributed, the memo said.

The office of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said Wednesday that they will probe the cause of the collapse, but did not give any details about if any criminality is suspected.

Cars on top of cars in this photo of the multi-story collapse. — The garage collapsed Tuesday afternoon, killing one and injuring four others.

Cars are seen at the entrance to the parking garage after the collapse.

An injured man being carted away from the garage collapse — Four of the five injured people went to the hospital, authorities said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will open an investigation into what caused the collapse, his office said.

Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference that there were over 50 cars on the roof of the garage.

Meanwhile, the fire department on Wednesday was trying to remove the cars still trapped inside so it could demolish the pancaked deck. A massive backhoe with a clam bucket tore into building’s brick-and-mortar flanks Wednesday morning, hurling a cloud of dust and debris into the city streets.

Firefighters also have to remove the deceased man, who remains inside.

“We are unable to get to the victim,” one fire official said, blaming the building’s instability. “It’s going to be a prolonged operation over several days.

Emergency services workers removing cars from the collapsed garage on April 19, 2023.

A crushed car getting lifted out of the debris.

The collapse left one person dead and several others injured.

Fire officials are planning to carry out a controlled demolition on Thursday.

Zach Iscol, the commissioner of the city’s emergency management office, added that it was an “incredibly complex operation.”

The Ann Street garage caved in at about 4:10 p.m., swallowing dozens of cars and sending slabs of concrete plummeting from the fourth floor into the cellar.