NY1 At 20: 2008 Report Looks At Deadly Manhattan Crane Collapse
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NY1 VIDEO: As NY1 News revisits its 20-year history, the station looks back at reporter Amanda Farinacci's March 15, 2008 coverage of the massive Turtle Bay crane collapse that killed seven people, including four construction workers.
NY1 FOLLOW-UP: The accident - and another deadly crane collapse two months later - would lead to major changes within the buildings department. The commissioner resigned a month after the first accident, and the city later announced a series of safety reforms. But some of those affected are still struggling to put their lives back together.
John LaGreco's bar was destroyed in the collapse. Speaking to NY1 at the site where Fubar once stood, LaGreco says he has not yet reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the city and therefore cannot open a new bar. But he says he's thankful to be alive, noting he normally would have been in the bar at the time of the accident.
"I've still been on the recovery path and getting back on my feet," LaGreco said. "Part of the trauma is knowing that I could have been killed and that I should have been. If I was punctual and on time that crane would have killed me."
As for the building that was being constructed, it was sold to a new owner after the collapse, but has yet to be completed. The Department of Buildings says no new building permits have been issued for the site.