A man is believed to have lost at least two fingers after a chunk of stone facade fell off a Manhattan building and crushed his hand, authorities said.
The victim was sitting in front of 832 Broadway in Greenwich Village when the hefty piece of detailing from the 10-story building’s entrance struck him just before 4 a.m. Saturday, police and FDNY officials told
The Post.
He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with a bruising and two — possibly three — less fingers, but was ultimately in stable condition, according to FDNY radio transmissions and police.
“A tenant in the building told me his wife heard it. It woke her up,” Jeff Ayers, 48, who has worked at bookstore Forbidden Planet, which is next door, for 30 years, said.
“He said it sounded like a bomb went off.”
Several tenants told another store employee they heard an “explosion” and saw the flashing lights of a firetruck responding to the scene.
“Thank God nobody got [critically] hurt. That was a big piece of cement. If that fully hits you, you would be dead,” he said.
Later Saturday, the left facade of the 130-year-old building was placed on the stoop inside the metal fence at the entrance.
The area surrounding the entrance was blocked off with caution tape and NYPD barriers. There appeared to be splats of blood on the sidewalk – with some eerily shaped like fingers.
A yellow safety violation was stuck on the mixed-use building’s door calling for an engineer’s report after a “decorative stone” collapsed on a pedestrian, the ticket reads.
The building is owned by property management firm Buchbinder & Warren LLC, according to public records.
When Buchbinder & Warren’s emergency line was reached by phone, a spokesperson said the office was closed and took a message.