By Gus Saltonstall
Multiple people were injured Saturday morning on the Upper West Side after a light pole and traffic light came crashing to the ground, a police spokesperson confirmed and photos from the incident show.
A police spokesperson told West Side Rag that a light pole fell to the ground at the corner of West 81st Street and Central Park West around 10:45 a.m., while “maintenance work” was taking place. Four people were injured in the incident, all transported to Mount Sinai Morningside in stable condition, NYPD added.
Police would not provide more details about how the light pole was knocked to the ground, but Rick Smolan, who arrived at the scene moments after it happened, told the Rag that it appeared like the top of a truck struck elevated electrical wires at the nearby intersection, which then pulled down the light poles and traffic lights.
“Bystanders immediately started helping people who were hurt,” Smolan told the Rag on a phone call. “It was great to see everybody step in and help.”
“It’s a miracle the weight of the traffic light that fell on them didn’t kill them,” Smolan added, while also mentioning that the driver of the truck proceeded to climb to the top of his vehicle to untangle it from the wires, so that the intersection would not be blocked off to traffic.
“Passersby yelled at him to be careful because everyone was worried the wires were hot and that he was going to electrocute himself,” Smolan said.
There have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, police said.
This is a developing story, please check back in for updates.
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This is terrible! I hope everyone is ok. Prayers to all!
OOPS!
My family members were critically injured. Very inappropriate to comment “oops!”
I use that subway exit a lot. It is across the street from the Museum of Natural History. If you look at the second picture you see the work going on across the street to build an elevator for that subway entrance. A wire that slips and gets tangled on a truck should break and not pull down a lamppost. If you look at the first picture, the old-fashioned lamppost actually broke in half. The wire is fine. Corrosion monitoring???
That wire didn’t slip. The trucks bed was still up and the driver thought he had clearance. It’s really the truck drivers fault.
Police would not provide more details about how the light pole was knocked to the ground, but Rick Smolan, who arrived at the scene moments after it happened, told the Rag that it appeared like the top of a truck struck elevated electrical wires at the nearby intersection, which then pulled down the light poles and traffic lights.
That’s what the photo seems to show. Now why was a dump truck on CPW, is there a construction site on that block. And why would a dump truck drive down a street and turn with its bed up for dumping?
There is major construction on the southwest corner — the excavation for an elevator to the 81st St. subway station. And last time I looked, there was some underground work going on at the northeast corner as well. I wonder if the vibrations from all that digging might have weakened the light pole.
Okay, but that doesn’t really explain why a dump truck would go through an intersection with its be raised.
No, it does not.
The images show that there is a construction site on that block, yes.
What a basic screwup. Get OSHA on the phone, that’s going to cost you.
Do we still have OSHA?
no, Trump got rid of it
I am no fan of drumpf….but…from the internet….No, Donald Trump did not eliminate the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during his presidency, nor did he disband it upon re-entering office in 2025. Instead, his administration pursued policies that weakened the agency’s enforcement and regulatory power.
I was there when it happened. It was an absolute fiasco. The dump truck had been part of the repairs on 81st street, between Columbus and Amsterdam (I believe it had been providing asphalt or aggregate for the road repairs right near Columbus on the north side). I didn’t see it leave the location but it seems to have never lowered it’s load from where I saw it at Columbus. I had saw it parked there and was walking along 81st to Central Park with my wife and dog. Then as I’m crossing CPW boom, it entangles the power lines and brings down the lights with its bin still fully elevated. I saw one bloody person with a head injury but with my dog and the powerlines in the street I try to keep my distance so I stayed at the south east corner.
The incredible thing is that there were *two* traffic cops there who did absolutely nothing for 10 minutes. I know NYPD Traffic isn’t really NYPD and aren’t trained first responders, but they didn’t even direct traffic or try to help. It’s chaos, the lights are down, the lines are probably live, real NYPD and FDNY don’t show up for at least 10 minutes, maybe 15. We called 911 but it wasn’t clear dispatch was even sending anyone.
Those lines are fairly low and are only there I think because of the elevator construction at 81st street station, but I’ve never seen a dump truck driver drive with his load up like that. It seemed like he was about to go straight into the transverse. I hope the pedestrians are OK, they seemed lucky to get glancing blows because that metal from that height can easily be deadly.
Here is some of the video and photos I took. Video uhh has a good deal of profanity. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/k6TM9AxsW62toMDV7)
I appreciate you taking the time to write what you saw and also posting the videos !Very helpful for the people involved. xo
And the cop car driving AWAY from the scene, going cross-town! Wth??
These traffic cops are seriously frustrating. It’s not the first time I’ve seen them just stand around during emergencies—they seem clueless and totally unprepared. Honestly, who even hires these people? Most of them just have no idea what they’re doing.
They write tickets. The proverbial meter maid.
Jeremy: In 1 of the pictures you attached there is a sign that says the maximum height for the transverse is 10 feet 2 inches. So he could not have fit under it. My guess is that he mistakenly thought he had lowered the bed of the truck, but had not.
A note to the truck driver- -never put your safety above worrying you might lose your job or worry about a traffic tie up. You were dealing with live wires and you could have been electrocuted trying to untangle them. Good for the people that yelled out that danger!
The last two mayors have ignored basic maintenance in Manhattan.
And it looks like this has nothing to do with a lack of basic maintenance. Looks to be an incompetent contractor working on an MTA project, and the MTA is run by the state.
The truck may have had mechanical issues. Why jump to conclusion?
Because if the truck had mechanical issues it shouldn’t have been in use, and if the issues developed on site, it shouldn’t have been moving.
Huh? Basic maintenance? A driver who leaves his tilt bin in the air while heading for the transverse with its low underpasses and then, after he’s caused an accident, reaches for possibly hot wires with his bare hands? Whatever you think of DeBlasio and Adams, you can’t blame them for one driver’s inexplicable stupidity.
let’s hold of crucifying the driver until we know what happened? so many armchair warriors
Enrico, you could also hold off defending the driver. Even if there was a mechanical issue, that doesn’t change the patent stupidity of grabbing at downed wires with bare hands. Dump trucks are not exactly new technology and I would also assume that they make some noise when the bin is going up and down so… it’s okay if you feel like you need a complete diagnostic to decide it’s more likely than not a driver error, but I hardly think anybody is “crucifying” the driver here.
I do hope the injured are doing ok. The traffic lights were still not working Sunday afternoon when I crossed into the park at that intersection.
If they are still okay after being at MSM hospital (previously called st Luke’s) then they are VERY VERY VERY lucky!
I once ended up in the ER there after drinking too much (it was college, don’t judge) and they discharged me with the IV needle STILL IN MY ARM! Like, I walked out and walked a block before I noticed. I didn’t notice at first because I was still a little drunk. 😬
Why would there be arrests for an accident like this?
Because it wasn’t an accident.
Was that the “Day in the Life” book guy, Rick Smolan taking pictures? Those snapshots of a horrific scene were pretty good! https://archive.org/details/dayinlifeofameri0000rick/page/n9/mode/2up
I was wondering if anyone would make the connection! Hopefully not a typical Day in the Life of the UWS.
I agree that it was totally the fault of the truck, driving with the back extended upright (which I witnessed first hand) that was traveling fast and didn’t have clearance when it tried to turn left on CPW, thus tearing down all the wires and the traffic lights.
Way to go, Rick!!
Vehicles should be measured (as well as height maintenance of lights, bridges.) as they enter NYC. For bridges height limits are posted; but some trucks still try. This can all be kept up to date and synched across mandatory e-links to oversized wheelers. Airplanes and other flyers above hi rise areas. All can access the heights of bridges, lights, buildings B4 they start their transit routes. And those wide vehicles …they usually have another vehicle behind them with Wide Vehicle sign!