By Carla Zanoni and Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporters/Producers
MIDTOWN — A window fell out of a Park Avenue apartment Sunday, plunging 52 floors and showering glass and metal over the sidewalk.
Parts of the debris smashed through a glass atrium above a gym, raining shards onto a swimming pool and leaving a swimmer slightly injured, a witness said.
The incident caused panic in the neighborhood after initial reports that an explosion had badly damaged several floors. The fear brought emergency responders out in force.
Instead, ambulances left empty. An FDNY spokesman told DNAinfo there was no blast and no serious injuries.
The Galleria building, at 117 East 57th Street at its intersection with Park Avenue, is home to magician David Copperfield, sources told DNAinfo.
The FDNY spokesman said it's thought high winds caused the window to come loose.
He said Con Edison had sent engineers because of the reports of an explosion, but found no evidence of gas.
The incident happened at about 4:40 p.m.
"We heard a big crash and there was glass falling down the front of the building," said witness Sam Snyder, 23.
A witness who was inside the New York Health and Racquet Club, which is housed in the building, said, "One person was sitting out on the pool deck when all of a sudden he looked up and pieces ware just sort of sailing down and he ran for cover."
Another woman, who was in swimming in the pool at the time, was slightly cut by glass, the witness said.
Police closed off the block stretching to Lexington Avenue. It was packed with dozens of emergency vehicles.
"I came out and saw all these fire trucks and police," said a shocked Elena Fedotova, 27, who was in her apartment across the street. "Nobody said anything."