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Widow Emotional At Funeral For Crane Collapse Victim

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mourners gathered at a synagogue on the Upper East Side on Sunday, to pay respects to the man who was killed when a crane came crashing down in Tribeca on Friday afternoon.

David Wichs, 38, was killed instantly as he walked along Worth Street. He was headed to his job, working as a financial trader on Wall Street, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.

The funeral for Wichs was held at the Congregation Kehilath Jerhurun on East 85th Street Sunday morning.

"The pain right now is unbearable," Rebecca Guttman, Wich's widow said. "I want you to know that I will do my best to live for us both."  

"I hope that I can live the rest of my life the way that you lived yours," Guttman said later. "David, I love you so much, now and always."

Wichs, a gifted mathematician, was walking to his job as a financial trader on Wall Street when he was struck by the crane.

"You see this in the news all the time, not all the time, but often enough, and you understand it's an unfortunate thing," Wichs' best friend, David, told Stern. "But you never imagine it's someone that you know."

Wichs will be buried in Saddle Brook, NJ.

The collapse happened as the crew was lowering the crane due to high winds. A veteran operator was inside the control cab when it flipped upside down. The crew was trying to lower the arm into the safety position – an upside-down V – right over West Broadway.

PHOTOS: Lower Manhattan Crane CollapseCHECK: Traffic & Transit

Experts plan to study the structure, as well as the crane's central computer, with hopes of figuring out what went wrong.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce safety improvements to crane operations, in the wake of the crash.

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