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Falling Glass from Hotel Window Shatters on Financial District Sidewalk

By  Ben Fractenberg and Aidan Gardiner | February 13, 2017 12:15pm | Updated on February 13, 2017 2:43pm

 Small pieces of black glass were strewn about the base of 55 Church St. and a hole could be seen about 20 stories up.
Small pieces of black glass were strewn about the base of 55 Church St. and a hole could be seen about 20 stories up.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

FIINANCIAL DISTRICT — Glass fell about 20 stories from the Millenium Hilton on Monday, shattering on the sidewalk more than a month following a similar incident at the high-rise.

A panel from a two-pane window in an unoccupied guest room on the 23rd floor of the 55 Church St. building, at Dey Street, fell onto the sidewalk below about 10:15 a.m., according to hotel spokesman Chris Hill.

A second window of an empty guest room on the 14th floor was also damaged, according to Department of Buildings spokesman Andrew Rudansky. That window did not shatter, Hill said.

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The area around the foot of the tower and outside a Starbucks on Dey Street was cordoned off with yellow tape shortly afterwards. Small pieces of glass were seen strewn across the sidewalk.

"We have the sidewalk roped off to make sure nobody's injured by any additional glass that might fall," Hill said.

The FDNY didn't have any reported injuries from the location Monday morning, a spokesman said.

"We were just worried about what happened — make sure no one got hurt. We work here with the people," said Statue of Liberty ticket seller Kevin Hendrick, 35, who works nearby but wasn't there when the glass fell. 

The Department of Buildings is investigating what broke the glass, but didn't immediately know the cause.

"We've conducted a safety inspection of all rooms on that side of the building to ensure that everything is in order," Hill said.

The hotel planned to remove and replace the damaged glass, Hill said.

Monday's incident followed a similar one on Jan. 5 in which a piece of metal flew into and shattered an 18th-floor window at the hotel.

"It was quite a bizarre incident," Hill said at the time.