Construction Crane Crushes Car in NYC, Driver Escapes With Minor Injuries

A journalism student on her way to class in the Bedford neighborhood of the Bronx, New York made it out of a horrific accident alive after a boom crane fell on her car in the middle of the roadway Tuesday morning.

Danielle Cruz was on her way to classes at Lehman College when the boom crane snapped, taking down a light pole and traffic light as it fell on top of Cruz’s car at the intersection of Jerome Avenue and West Bedford Park Boulevard.

Surveillance video shows moment of crane collapse in the Bronx

People at the scene rushed to help Cruz. Incredibly, she walked away from the gnarly scene with the help of her fellow New Yorkers, suffering only a hand injury and a cut on her lip from the shattering glass. A firefighter told Cruz if her car had been 3 inches further forward, she might not survived, according to ABC7:

It appeared the boom broke off while lifting materials. The truck did not tip over.

“They were taking a payload up to the seventh or eighth floor above me when the crane boom collapsed across the road, fell on the car right behind me and injured one passenger in that car,” FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco said. “She has, believe it or not, minor injuries. She is very lucky. She was in the car behind me, and the way the boom crossed the car, just missed her. She’s going to be fine.”

The building under construction appears to be undamaged.

Inspectors with the Department of Buildings are responding to the scene, and the FDNY evacuated approximately 29 workers from the site out of an abundance of caution.

News outlets are paying a lot of attention to Cruz’s survival — and there’s no doubt, she experienced a remarkable brush with death — but what about the older male pedestrian walking along the road? Where’s that guy at? Hopefully out playing the lottery, as he and Cruz are two lucky, lucky people.

This is the second crane accident in New York in the last two months. Another crash occurred in Brooklyn in August when a boom truck delivering construction material tipped over, heavily damaging a neighboring building, according to NBC New York.