


The clean-up of the deadly parking garage collapse earlier this week remains “very dangerous” and “incredibly complex” — as emergency workers try to safely remove the remaining vehicles, city officials said Friday.
“Those vehicles have gas, other fluids that can cause hazards,” said Commissioner of Emergency Management, Zachary Iscol, adding, “In addition to that we have the added complexity of electric vehicles.
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“We know that there are all sorts of issues with electric vehicle batteries.”
The disaster in the Financial District at 57 Ann Street on Tuesday afternoon left one dead, the parking garage manager Willis Moore, and five others injured.
Iscol said the Department of Buildings found that the third floor caved into the second floor, which then all fell into the footprint of the building.
There is also a partial collapse of the rear wall and the front wall is “bulging,” Iscol said.
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“Engineers determined that the parking garage was no longer structurally stable and in danger of further collapse,” the commissioner added
That is requiring demolition workers to brace the adjacent building walls, including one that’s owned by Pace University.
“We are working very hard right now to ensure the stability of the surrounding structures as we proceed with the demolition,” Iscol said.
The FDNY spent days removing vehicles from the garage as it started a controlled demolition of the structure.
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While the official cause of the collapse has yet to be determined, a preliminary report from the FDNY pinned the deadly event on the building’s age and the number of vehicles parked on the top floor.
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Photos from the aftermath showed dozens of cars that had fallen into the second floor.
The garage, which is owned by Ann Street Realty company since 1989, also had a lengthy history of structural issues, which documented revealed required serious repairs, including 11-foot cracks in walls and roof.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has since opened a probe into whether the cause of the collapse could be criminal in nature.
It was unclear if those repairs were ever completed.