NYC launches investigation on Lower Manhattan parking garage collapse
NEW YORK -- The city has launched a two-pronged investigation into the collapse of the Lower Manhattan parking garage -- what caused the Ann Street structure to fail, and whether new steps need to be taken to safety-proof the thousands of parking garages in the Big Apple.
As city agencies continued their efforts in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday to remove cars and dig through rubble, Mayor Eric Adams and city officials begin the information-gathering stage from City Hall.
"They're going to have to look at this and say, what did we learn from this? And if there needs to be immediate actions with existing garages, then we have to take that immediate action," Adams said.
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It's not lost on anyone that car-buying habits have changed over the years. There are many, many more SUVs and electric cars with batteries that can top out at 5,000 pounds. That's why CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer asked the mayor if new weight rules need to be enacted to restrict the number of cars that garages can safely handle.
"Do you need to evaluate the number of cars by weight that can go into these structures to make sure that they're safe because they are not being overpowered by cars that are heavier?" Kramer asked.
"All of that, Marcia, as you raise, we're living in a new environment and we have to constantly analyze and upgrade everything from a weight capacity to how many cars can be there. That is all part of this investigation," Adams said.
The collapse of the 100-year-old Ann Street garage on Tuesday has sparked and investigation in two parts. With pictures showing dozens of heavy SUVs crashing through the roof, the mayor wants to study whether the city's 2,500 parking garages are sound enough to handle the new reliance on SUVs and electric cars.
Electric vehicles, while still accounting for a small percentage of passenger vehicles in the city, typically weigh 500-800 pounds more than cars in their class that use gas, and larger electric SUVs and trucks contain batteries that make them thousands of pounds heavier than gas engine alternatives.
The condition of the building, built in 1925, is also in question.
"You had a different standard of construction, obviously. There could be deterioration there. Obviously, they had cars now on top on different floors that could have added weight to the building that it wasn't designed for," said Luis Ceferino, an assistant engineering professor with New York University.
Officials say there is also a wide-ranging investigation into the Ann Street garage to see if, for example, it suffered any damage during either Superstorm Sandy or from 9/11.
Records reviewed by CBS2 show the building has open violations dating 20 years to 2003. Over the years, it wracked up 65 violations.
"There's a thorough investigation that is going to happen with this building, and we're gonna learn from it, and if we have to change something throughout the state, we'll change it," Adams said.
Watch Marcia Kramer's report
There is also another issue under a law passed by the City Council in 2021, when Bill de Blasio was mayor. Garage owners are supposed to hire certified outside engineers to inspect their facilities and certify they are safe.
"We have not received the required parking structure inspection report from the owner of 57 Ann," a spokesman for the Department of Buildings told CBS2.
However, he said that although the law went into effect about two years ago, the owners have until the end of the year to comply.
The mayor told CBS2 he was to make sure all the parking garages -- not just 57 Ann St. -- are in compliance with the law.
"There is a time limit on what we're doing with that inspection, so there's a lot we have to learn and this is really new," Adams said.
City Hall sources say they want to evaluate the inspection law to see if it makes sense to rely on owners to, in effect, self certify. It makes more sense, sources say, to let city inspectors do the job.
It's not just their weight -- electric vehicles also have to be watched carefully in the aftermath of an event like Tuesday's collapse. Firefighters and emergency management have to monitor any electric vehicles pulled from the wreckage around the clock for at least 48 hours to ensure a damaged battery doesn't burst into flames.
One FDNY source says that because of their weight and fire risk, electric vehicles in city garages "are just a bad idea."
