Witnesses share terror watching and hearing construction crane collapse in New York City

Arm of construction crane collapsed, striking a nearby building on Wednesday morning

“Terrifying.”

It was the only word that two New York City construction workers said came to mind when the building they were working in was suddenly struck by a partially collapsed crane on Wednesday.

“We’re walking down the stairs and that’s when you hear the boom, boom, boom,” Alexander, a construction worker who only wished to be identified by his first name, told The Independent.

“My heart is beating out of my chest because after that rumbling I’m like ‘this building is going to come down,’” Alexander said.

Alexander was working on the 12th floor of the under-construction building at 550 10th Avenue when a nearby crane caught fire and partially collapsed.

Jahsaan Osborne, who was working approximately two floors above Alexander, said they began evacuations when someone said the crane caught fire.

It wasn’t until the men were in the stairwell with others that the arm of the crane fell and smashed into the side of the building, causing the structure to tremble.

Mr Osborne said: “I was walking down the stairs and the building is rumbling, you’ve got people behind you who could trip, fall – it got a little scary.”

Photos and videos from the ground showed the crane, situated 45 stories above ground, on fire and then partially collapsing. Authorities said the crane operator was using it to lift 16 tonnes of concrete when the flames began.

Though the crane operator tried to extinguish the fire, he was unsuccessful and the flames caused the cable to snap sending the arm of the crane to the street.

One bystander, named Tyra Robbings, told The New York Times she “couldn’t believe” what she was seeing when the crane fell Wednesday morning.

“It was like it fell in slow motion,” Ms Robbins.

In videos shared to X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram, those filming the scary scene gasped at the sight of it.

While people watched in awe from afar, inside the building, Mr Osborne and Alexander said panic ensued.

“This guy, I see him fall head-down feet-up down the stairs when the rumbling happened and people start trampling over him,” Alexander recounted.

He added: “I saw that happen and I’m like ‘I can’t trample this dude because if we all die here today and that’s the last thing I do, that’s not how – the last thing I do is step over my brother and not even help him.’”

Alexander said his heart was beating out of his chest while he waited for the fallen man to get up and continue making his way down the stairs.

Mr Osborne said he was “shaking”.

Luckily, all of the construction workers made it out of the building safely with no major injuries.

Following the scary incident, Mayor Eric Adams said only four civilians and two firefighters were minorly injured.

“This could have been much worse,” Mr Adams said emphasising that the concrete spread over such a large area when it hit the ground.

Debris from the construction crane that collapsed in Manhattan, New York on 26 July (Ariana Baio / The Independent)

Firefighters in the FDNY managed to put out the blaze on the crane and authorities in New York City said an investigation would be conducted into the crane operations and the building it struck.

As for Alexander and Mr Osborne, they have the rest of the day off.