NEW YORK — A taxi driver says he escaped serious injury after rocks fell from a building and landed right on his car in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.
It happened early Monday afternoon on Gansevoort Street, directly across from the Whitney Museum. The victim spoke to CBS News New York immediately after being released from the hospital.
Chaos briefly engulfed Gansevoort Street on Monday
‘I’m in the car [having] lunch and something comes down from the roof,” said Juan Monegro.
The remains of Monegro’s meal were surrounded by broken glass, broken car equipment and a deployed airbag. He said he was taking a break while parked when he was nearly crushed.
“I already hear something popping in my car and I feel pain in my whole body,” he said. “I heard that sound twice on my roof.”
Witnesses described the moment just before noon when rocks from Gansevoort 90 fell on the vehicle.
“I heard a very loud noise, come here and look, wow, stones fell on the car,” said Kostia Patyak.
“I heard the commotion, people were screaming ‘Oh my God,'” Roberto Monticello said.
Monegro left with arm and back injuries and when he returned to pick up his car, he noticed more rocks in the vehicle and even more damage.
“I see in front of the car, but I didn’t see that before,” he said.
The Ministry of Buildings’ explanation for what happened
The Department of Buildings said that during facade repair work on the eighth floor, a 6.5-by-6-meter section of facade became loose and landed on the sidewalk shed and the occupied car below.
Construction crews on site did not want to speak to CBS News New York on camera, but said the owner is TF Cornerstone. The DOB has committed several violations, including failure to ensure compliance. It also issued an order for a complete halt to all facade work.
CBS News New York emailed and called the building’s owners, but did not hear back by our deadline.
In 2019, a A Manhattan woman was killed when a piece of a building’s facade fell on her as she walked along West 49th Street.
For now, the DOB says work cannot resume until the contractor shows how to prevent future incidents like this.
Lisa Rozner
