FDNY Chaplain Comes To The Aid Of Bride Left Out In The Cold By Tribeca Crane Collapse

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The perfect wedding day was just not happening for Nesh Pillay.

"Everything had been going wrong, the weather was supposed to be great," she said.

While getting her hair done in a salon, a giant crane came crashing down just around the corner.

"My stylist felt it while she was washing my hair. They thought it was an earthquake," she told 1010 WINS' Darius Radzius.

It was just before 8:30 a.m. when a crane collapsed in on Worth Street in Tribeca, killing one and injuring three.

The 565-foot big rig, owned by Bay Crane of Long Island City, Queens and Hicksville, Long Island, and operated by Galasso Trucking and Rigging, was being secured because of the weather at the time.

The operator lost control of the crane and it collapsed.

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Pillay was told to stay inside the salon.

"Everyone was sort of confused and a little worried and scared," she told CBS2. "Eventually it was just, we were the only guests left in the salon. The police weren't letting people out or in so we were sort of stuck there."

Hours later, the bridal party was forced outside due to safety concerns.

"Eventually, we had to evacuate because there was talk about a possible gas leak. So I put on my dress and we went outside, and it was very cold, and we weren't able to get an Uber," she said.

She was on the street in her wedding gown with no ride to City Hall, when an FDNY chaplain jumped in and helped her through the dilemma.

"She came over to me right away, put her jacket around me, and I was freezing and wet and cold -- so that was much appreciated," she said.

The death of David Wichs, 38, a Harvard University graduate who immigrated to the U.S. from Eastern Europe, left Pillay with mixed emotions as she met her now husband on the steps of Tweed Courthouse.

"We walked up to the stairs and I grabbed my then fiance, and I was mostly sad because somebody had died and we knew that, and it's hard to be happy for your own wedding when something like that happens," she said.

The chaplain then married her and her groom in front of a small group of family and friends.

"When the crane first fell, people off the street ran to help before first responders got there -- and the chaplain proved too that New Yorkers are really awesome," she said.

The bittersweet moment showcased New York values in the immediate aftermath of tragedy.