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Authorities: Lower Manhattan Parking Attendant Killed After Vehicle Falls Off Lift

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A worker was killed Monday when a car fell off a lift at a parking garage in Lower Manhattan.

It happened at an Icon parking garage on Barclay Street just after 8 a.m. Emergency workers said parking attendant Victor Viscaino was killed when an SUV rolled off the lift and crashed six feet to the ground, crushing the worker as he was standing underneath.

Investigators were looking into whether Viscaino secured the SUV before the lift was raised, as Icon parking policies call for, CBS 2's Sean Hennessey reported.

WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reports

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Viscaino's shaken family members arrived at the scene escorted by police officers as co-workers and customers stood in disbelief.

Gerard Marini said he has parked at the garage every day for five years and was stunned to learn the attendant, who had become a personal friend, had been killed in a tragic accident.

"It's crazy. When I couldn't get down the block this morning to park the car, I do have his cell number on me and I was going to call him to see if there was any way he could get me into the garage later or something," Marini told CBS 2's Kathryn Brown.

Marini said Viscaino was hard working and loved baseball, especially a slugger from the Los Angeles Angels.

"Albert Pujols. He's from the Dominican and as a matter of fact I even got him a baseball jacket a few years ago, an Albert Pujols jacket. That's the kind of guy he was, a very good man," Marini said.

1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reports

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Customers like Cesar Callan told CBS 2's Hennessey that Viscaino always wore a smile.

"He was a person who parked my car every day of the week," Callan said. "Very, very friendly guy, beautiful man."

"It's just heartbreaking. It's a difficult job and it's just heartbreaking," customer Sherri Donovan added.

"It's hard to believe and I thought, 'not him,'" Omar Marinavic told WCBS 880's Paul Murnane. "I feel for him and his family."

"He's a very, very warm person," another customer told 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa.

Officials said Viscaino was crushed by a vehicle that belonged to a woman, who said she was sickened to hear the news.

"I was stunned to begin with and now I don't even know what to say," Kim Lurie said.

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