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Crane Collapses at Hell's Kitchen Worksite

By Trevor Kapp | November 26, 2012 10:59am | Updated on November 26, 2012 12:44pm

HELL'S KITCHEN — A crane collapsed while lifting equipment in Hell's Kitchen Monday morning, FDNY officials and witnesses said.

Nobody was hurt in the 8:46 a.m. incident at 438 W. 38th St., according to an FDNY spokesman.

Witnesses said the crane collapsed while attempting to pick up an air condenser that had just been delivered to the address.

The crane extended too far and toppled over, according to the tractor-trailer driver who brought the condenser to the site.

''I was looking in the other direction and then I heard the crack," said Danny Brown, 51,  of Scottsboro, Ala.

"It was loud. I knew it was the crane. Then I looked and it was toppling over slowly. I was nervous. It was like in slow motion. I didn't know if it was going to keep going or break my trailer."

Mike Brabham, who lives next door to the site, said he rushed out of his apartment as soon as he heard the crash.

''It shook my whole building," said Brabham, 43. "It felt like an earthquake.''

The accident left Brown shaken.

''This is my first trip to New York, and it might be my last,'' he said.

''This was a bad experience.''

The collapse remains under investigation, and the Department of Buildings is responding to the incident, officials said.