Deadly NYC garage collapse likely caused by building's age and number of cars parked on roof deck

The deadly collapse of a New York City parking garage was caused by the age of the building and the number of cars parked on the top level.

Manhattan’s District Attorney's Office has launched a probe into the disaster, after a preliminary FDNY report said that the 98-year-old building pancaked to the basement with cars jamming into each other.

Pictures of the terrifying incident show dozens of vehicles, many large SUV’s, falling in on each other in the collapse – which saw site manager Willis Moore, 59, killed and five others injured.

Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday that there were more than 50 cars on the top level of the roof.

He added: ‘The building is not structurally sound, you think about hazardous materials that are in the garage, right gas tanks, fluids, further complicated by the fact that there are possibly some electric vehicles in that garage.’

Pictures of the terrifying incident show dozens of vehicles, many large SUV’s, falling in on each other in the collapse – which saw site manager Willis Moore, 59, killed and five others injured 

Manhattan’s District Attorney's Office has launched a probe into the disaster, after a preliminary FDNY report said that the 98-year-old building pancaked to the basement with cars jamming into each other

An FDNY memo said that the working theory behind the cause of the disaster was the three-story garage collapsed under the weight of the heavy vehicles.

It added that it was likely the building, which was built in 1925 and approved as a garage in 1957, had issues with its structure because of its age.

DA Alvin Bragg’s Office confirmed that they will probe the cause but did not comment on if any criminality is suspected.

Firefighters remain on scene and are still struggling to remove cars still trapped inside so it can be properly demolished on Thursday.

They are also unable to access the body of Moore, and blamed the buildings' instability for the ‘prolonged operation’.

Terrifying footage captured cars on a lower level being crushed after the upper floor collapsed and vehicles fell through the 'pancaked' broken concrete.

The horror incident left a fleet of vehicles piled on top of one another, causing a huge emergency response at the site near Wall Street at 4.15pm.

New York City's Department of Buildings confirmed that there are four open property violations relating to the garage in Lower Manhattan.

Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday that there were more than 50 cars on the top level of the roof 

The building was built in 1925 and received its certificate of occupancy in 1957 for automobile parking

An FDNY memo said that the working theory behind the cause of the disaster was the three-story garage collapsed under the weight of the heavy vehicles 

An open complaint in 2013 saw the company fail to maintain the building after there was no exit at a signposted fire exit – with all the doors locked.

The company listed on the complaint, Enterprise Ann Parking LL, was given a $1,200 fine after being found in violation in 2014.

In 2009 they were found to have broken and defective fire stairs, as well as a 'loose piece of concrete in danger of falling' in several locations.

The respondent, named as Ann Park LLC, was fined $200 and found to be in violation in 2010, but nothing was ultimately resolved.

Two complaints in 2003 remain open, with one referring to exit lighting not working, as well as exit signs not 'properly illuminating'.

The other part of the issue was gain to 'fix concrete', as well as 'missing concrete covering steel beams' and 'defective concrete with exposed rear cracks.'

57 Ann St Realty Association was fined a total of $1,150 on that occasion, but it does not appear that anything was resolved.

Firefighters remain on scene and are still struggling to remove cars still trapped inside so it can be properly demolished on Thursday 

Adams said: ‘The building is not structurally sound, you think about hazardous materials that are in the garage, right gas tanks, fluids, further complicated by the fact that there are possibly some electric vehicles in that garage'

A city record from 2010 shows 34 new auto lifts were installed on the property, which would have 'added to the weight' of the building

There have been 64 violations in total since the building opened in 1957, with the complaints dating back to 1976.

However, there are still two open DOB violations regarding the elevator in the property, which was issued in 2014.

Three of the complaints were marked as Category One or hazardous issue, meaning that they have to be corrected immediately.

NYC passed a law in 2022 requiring owners of parking structures to have their garages inspected every six years, and to file a report with inspection results to the Department of Buildings.

The Manhattan garage was part of the first two-year inspection cycle , January 2022 to December 2023, meaning that they were not out of compliance – but the law was created too late to catch the problems.

It was built in 1925 and received its certificate of occupancy in 1957 for automobile parking.

A city record from 2010 shows 34 new auto lifts were installed on the property, which would have 'added to the weight' of the building.

The building and several streets remain closed after the collapse which killed one and injured four others

The building was built in 1925 (pictured) and received its certificate of occupancy in 1957 for automobile parking

However, there are still two open DOB violations regarding the elevator in the property, which was issued in 2014

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told the media that a robotic dog, which is also known as a Digidog, was needed to go into the building when officials arrived on the scene because the collapsed building was unstable.

Investigations into the cause of the collapse are on-going.

Footage of the collapse, which was shot on a Ring surveillance camera, shows the vehicles inside in the dark become quickly submerged by falling concrete.

Numerous vehicles were seen crashing through the openings as the collapse caused significant damage.

Witnesses described a woman screaming 'get out!' as the structure caved in, and images showed the top floor fallen through with vehicles stacked on broken concrete.

Several New York residents who live near the building told DailyMail.com the structure was known to be old, saying the tragedy was 'not surprising'.