N.Y. Crane Crash Kills at Least One

One person was killed and three others injured – two seriously — when a massive construction crane collapsed in Lower Manhattan on Friday morning, officials said.

The man who was killed had been standing on the street during the blustery snowfall when the crane toppled on him, a police source said.

The two seriously injured people were rushed to Bellevue Hospital. The one with lesser injuries was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The crane – which was swinging a wrecking ball — fell over at 40 Worth St. between West Broadway and Church Street in Tribeca at 8:24 a.m., crushing several cars parked on the street, according to witnesses and fire officials.

It is unclear how the crane collapsed.

The courthouse at 71 Thomas St., around the corner from site of the collapse, was evacuated because of gas odors, a Manhattan Supreme Court official said.

Paul Capotosto, treasurer of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association, said he and two other board officers rushed outside their nearby office when they heard the thunderous collapse.

“When it came down, it felt like an earthquake. Our building rattled … shook,” he told The Post. “We started checking the cars to make sure nobody’s in them. We got to one of the cars, saw a man sitting in the driver’s seat, still conscious. He said he was OK.”

Capotosto, Bob Ganley and Vincent Vallelong found another injured man in the street who appeared to be unconscious and a woman who was leaning against the building – blood trickling from her forehead.

“We rendered some aid to her. It was a little bit of chaos in the street,” Capotosto said. “(The crane) came down and it crushed every car on the block. Thankfully there was only one person inside one of the cars.”

All three of the PBA’s cars were destroyed.

“As bad as it is, we lost a life out there, but it could have been worse. Because of the weather, there were not a lot of people out there,” he added.

The crane was marked with a logo for Bay Crane, the company involved in a collapse in Midtown last year that injured 10 people. The company’s crane had been hoisting an air conditioner.

A person who answered the phone at Bay Crane declined comment, saying the company was still collecting information.

The 75-year-old Long Island City-based company describes itself on its Web site as “New York’s leader in crane rental and specialized transportation solutions.”

Multiple ambulances and emergency responders were on the scene.

Surrounding streets have been closed. The No. 1 subway trains are bypassing the Franklin Street and Chambers Street stations.

Responders were concerned about a potential gas leak and that the crane might be electrified, sources said.

The incident is the latest in a string of incidents involving cranes in New York City.

In April 2015, a construction-company boss was crushed to death when a malfunctioning crane collapsed on him at a Manhattan work site.

Trevor Loftus, 40, was checking out his boom truck’s leaky hydraulic system just as a hose burst, causing the crane’s arm to collapse and pin him against the vehicle’s flatbed at 219 E. 44th St..

In 2008, a crane owned by self-described “King of Cranes” James Lomma fell onto a work site on East 91st Street, killing operator Donald Leo and worker Ramadan Kurtaj.

In July 2015, a Manhattan jury delivered a $48 million verdict against Lomma.