A parking garage in downtown White Plains partially collapsed on Wednesday morning, crushing multiple vehicles but luckily no one was injured.
The incident happened just after 9 a.m. at the garage on Hale Avenue near South Broadway which is close to the Westchester One office tower. A part of the fifth floor fell into the fourth floor below it, which brought concrete slabs, metal beams and debris down onto parked vehicles during this collapse.
Officials say about 14 to 15 cars were in the area where the collapse happened with about six vehicles showing visible damage. One witness, Siobhan Rossi, said she managed to drive her car out after taking some pictures very quickly.
“I went in the stairs and I looked to the right, and there was a huge sinkhole in the parking garage floor,” Rossi said.
City and emergency crews rushed to the scene. Roads are closed around the area while officials work to secure the structure. Fire and police departments are putting in temporary support columns. Following that, there will be engineers that will come determine if it’s safe to enter and remove the trapped vehicles.
Mayor Tom Roach and Public Safety Commissioner David Chong addressed the press, expressing relief that nobody was inside when the collapse occurred.
“This morning, we received word of a partial collapse in this garage,” Roach said. “The most important thing I can say at the beginning – no injuries, no fatalities.”
“We’re blessed that it wasn’t something more tragic. If it was at 8:30 in the morning, who knows what would’ve happened when people were coming into work,” Chong added. “So we’re blessed that there really wasn’t anybody inside the garage.”
Investigators are now trying to determine what went wrong. The garage is privately owned, and CBS News New York is waiting on a response from the owner.
While that’s happening, many workers and residents who use that garage are left without parking. The recovery process could stretch for days or more.
