N.Y. Crane Collapse Kills 2 and Injures 1

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Raw Video: Crane Collapse in New York

A construction crane has collapsed on New York's Upper East Side, damaging the top floor of a nearby high-rise apartment building. The Fire Department says it has pulled people out of the wreckage.

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A Fire Department spokesman identified the man as Ramadan Kurtij, 27, and said that he died shortly afterward in hospital.

Witnesses described a scene of devastation at the site of the building -- which was slated to be 34 stories tall, including a middle school and luxury apartments -- as construction workers wept and held each other. Alvarez said he could not understand what went wrong.

"We're union workers; we take pride in what we build," he said. "We build it right. We build it safe. Something happened."

The Associated Press reported that the crane was operated by Sorbara Construction. A woman who answered the telephone at the company's Lynbrook, N.Y., headquarters, said no one was available to comment.

At a news conference after the collapse, Robert LiMandri, the acting commissioner of the city's Department of Buildings, said the crane had been erected April 20 and 21, with city inspectors on-site. He said it was or lengthened twice, on May 22 and May 27, in the presence of city engineers.

But Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, said there had been eight violations at the site, including one in April for operating a crane in an unsafe manner. On Thursday, someone phoned in a complaint that the crane was illegally hoisting objects across the street.

"We're in the midst of a development boom, and that's a good thing," Stringer said. "The bad thing is that we have not kept up a safety regimen consistent with the needs of the construction boom."

"What has happened is unacceptable and intolerable," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at a news conference, though he seemed testy when answering questions about the Department of Buildings.

"It was not D.O.B. that crashed," Bloomberg said. "It was the crane that collapsed."

"Sadly, the two crane accidents, in a short period of time, look like a pattern, but there's no reason to think there is any connection," he said.

But Betsy Gotbaum, New York City's public advocate, issued a statement accusing the Department of Buildings of being "asleep at the wheel," and calling for stricter enforcement and more inspectors.

Gov. David Paterson said he will ask the State Department of Labor and the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal to investigate.

"Obviously, there is a problem," said Greg Selton, 49, a computer programmer who lives in the Upper East Side. "The question is: Does the city have enough personnel to inspect all construction sites in the city? I think there should be a moratorium on high-rise buildings until they can determine how this happened."

In the District of Columbia, Linda K. Argo, the director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, said in a statement that her agency will immediately begin emergency inspections of all cranes in the District in response to the New York incident. She added that a disaster of such proportion is unlikely in the District, where building heights are limited.