3 Hurt After Glass Falls From Midtown Manhattan Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- At least three people were injured after glass fell from a high-rise building in Midtown Thursday morning.
The incident occurred on West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue around 8:30 a.m.
Firefighters said a crew was doing renovation work on the 18th floor of 40 West 57th St. when a piece of machinery bumped into a pane of glass.
Jagged foot-long pieces of glass from the window smashed onto the crowded sidewalk below, CBS 2's Kathryn Brown reported.
3 Hurt After Glass Falls From Midtown Manhattan Building
"Most of it stayed in, it was just cracked, so we had to remove it and pull it into the building," Fire Chief Tom Marra said.
Emergency crews spent more than an hour cutting the remaining shards of glass from the window frame and pulling them inside.
Firefighters estimate about 50 to 60 pounds of glass came crashing down onto the sidewalk.
Witnesses said a tourist from North Carolina stumbled into a cafe and was bleeding after a piece of glass struck her head.
"She came into the store, but she was nice and calm," witness Mariama Galmoh said.
"I was feeling sorry for her because the reaction on her face was like she was in pain," witness Anna St. Hill said.
The woman and a construction worker who was inside the building were rushed to the hospital. Another pedestrian also sustained a minor injury, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
"It's scary," said witness Brandie Olseth. "I'm glad I wasn't walking under it."
3 Hurt After Glass Falls From Midtown Manhattan Building
Glenn Kelly, who works on the floor where the accident occurred, said he didn't know what happened until he went outside and saw shards of glass all over the sidewalk.
"We hear all kinds of noises all the time with the drilling and the banging and all that so another bang ain't gonna make a difference for us," Kelly told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.
"It's a busy street, said witness Mike Galvin. "It's amazing that nobody else got hurt with the glass."
West 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic after the incident.
Those who were injured are expected to be OK, but shaken by the close call, Brown reported.
The Department of Buildings is investigating
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