Debris falls from 16th floor of building onto street below in Lower Manhattan
LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) -- Officials are investigating after debris fell from the 16th floor of a building in Lower Manhattan early Monday morning.
Chunks of a building's facade crashed down near City Hall on Broadway between Reade and Duane streets around 6:15 a.m.
The debris crashed into a sidewalk and hit several parked cars.
It also hit an Uber driver's SUV as he drove by, smashing his windshield and spraying broken glass into his face. He was taken to the hospital.
Engineers with the Department of Buildings say a 30-foot piece of the decorative stone facade detached from the building and fell onto the street and sidewalk shed below.
A spokesperson added, "The scaffold company is on site removing debris and loose decking and planking and providing temporary bracing for the remainder of the unstable facade between floors 15 and 16."
Stephen LeBron says he feels fortunate he and his two young daughters weren't in the crosswalk when chunks of the building came falling out of the sky.
"I could hear little pieces dropping, I didn't know what it was at the time until I saw it on the ground," LeBron said.
Inspectors say crews were doing permitted facade repair work on the mixed-use 19-story building.
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