It came on a snowy friday morning so unexpectedly, it has now left two people still in the hospital at this hour, and it also claimed the life of a 30yearold man from the Upper West Side. And clearly injuries here severe and of course this tragedy still about exactly why and how this happened. This video obtained by tmz shows the dramatic seconds right after this towering crane which stood nearly 600 feet in the air and weighed more than 300tons came crashing to the ground on werth street in tribeca just before 8 30 this morning. Because, again, the crane was being lowered into the secure position and the construction workers were blocking off the area, the danger to people on the street was lessened, and thank god we didnt have more injuries and we didnt lose more people. The crane which had been used to move ac units on top of this building at 60 hudson street suddenly collapsed crushing cars and swiping four stunned residents thought it was a earthquake. Theres too much construction going on in manhattan at the same time, and the department of buildings cannot keep up and cannot make everyone safe. This footage shows the hole left behind when a piece of equipment similar to a wrecking ball crashed into a nearby building literally landing on someones desk. The extensive wreckage now lies several blocks along werth street. We had a streetbased crane topple two blocks. Its flipped over. We had wrecking ball that has gone through the roof. Because of high winds this morning, crews were in the midst of trying to put this crane in a secure position when the tragedy struck. The massive investigation forced evacuations of local commercial buildings and also impacted subways, buses and streets. It also forced officials to Structural Integrity of nearby buildings. Fdny and coned have been sweeping all the related buildings along werth street constantly. So far they have the type of gas levels that give them additional fear of any further problems, but they are literally sweeping them every 15 minutes to check gas levels. Reporter now the crane behind me now lets point out here that the crane behind me that was involved in this mornings accident was just inspected yesterday. During his Morning Press Conference mayor de blasio ordered more than 400 cranes across new york city to be immediately secured. Meanwhile, authorities are still talking to the operator of that crane now lying on its side hear in werth street. Reporting from tribeca, rob nelson. We are learning more this afternoon about the victims. David wicks was standing next to a parked car when that crane crashed down. He was 38 years old. He was born in prague, immigrated to the United States as a teenager and graduated from harvard university. Family members say he worked on wall street. His sisterinlaw told the Associated Press david really created a life for himself. He literally took every opportunity that he could find. Three others who were injured in the collapse, 73 yearold thomas obrien. He was inside a car that was crushed. He suffered a gash to his head and 45yearold dawn cojema is in the hospital with a leg injury. Construction workers in a nearby building used their cell phone video to capture incredible video of the crane as it toppled over. Windy conditions caused the men to leave their own nearby building under construction when they spotted the crane swaying in the dust. They then described what they saw when they filmed it. Stopped on one of the floors and we watched this crane swaying in the wind, and we noticed that they decided to start lowering it down across the street. They were swinging the crane around to lower it down to a safe down to the street, and the wind was picking up, so the first attempt it started to sway they put it back up. The second attempt coming down it got away from them i guess. To give you an idea of how powerful this crane is it was capable of lifting 330tons. What they had been doing is working to replace air conditioning in equipment generators and putting it on the roof of that building. As you heard mayor de blasio say earlier, for most of this day the fdny and con ed have swept building after building in the area for possible gas leaks from the collapse. Inspectors are also checking the stability of all the buildings in that area. That means residents who live near the site are being forced to stay away. Tim fleischer is at the scene and he continues our coverage. Tim. Reporter and this crane came down, liz, in just a to tell you when it did, it came without warning to most people who were very close to it, some within several feet. Its really devastating. I happened to be at my desk and saw the crane come down. Right outside the window where bob ganley was sitting, the twisted wreckage stretches along werth street and smashes many of the cars of those who work at the sergeants benin lent association. The first reaction it was run outside. It was like a war zone out there at that very moment that it hit. The sergeants with the nypd found several victims that were in need of help. We found one individual that was inside the truck, tried to pull him out. It was almost impossible to get the doors open. They discovered the one person who was killed and another victim. Normally they say the street is crowded with people on foot and in cars. There is a school nearby, too. Possibly with the delayed openings, a lot of children who lived next door in the residences, they stayed in. The cranes framework buck and would bent out of shape stretched two blocks, most of it missing the buildings on the narrow street. Some pieces of debris crashed through windows. Across the street in the new York Law School building professor frank bress was just beginning his day when the office shook. It was quite a jolt. I mean, you know, its a big building and it shook the building and it was not just a minor shake. It was a couple of seconds. So unfortunate when you see an event like this happening. Peter allen told me the crane had been there since monday and because of its size he could not help but be concerned. It looked so unstable so high up in the air. Other residents who live in the neighborhood were terrified. The difference is we saw it coming and we could do nothing. We were powerless. Reporter and at this hour afternoon. Theyve put up barricades. Theyve closed off several blocks in each direction to keep people away and make sure they can bring in the heavy equipment to start the work. At the same time con ed is continuing to monitor the situation. Reporting live in tribeca, Tim Fleischer channel 7 Eyewitness News. Lets go up to shannon sohn in news copter 7 with a look at werth street from above. We can really give you perspective on just how massive this crane was. The first thing, this is the intersection right here with hudson treat going the other way that is werth street. Right here that is where the base of the crane set. So we want to bring you through this and give you an idea of what this looks like and just how massive this scene is. Youre looking at the base of the crane. Obviously as it came down it came down hard, and it was 565 feet worth of crane. Right there is where it crosses with west broadway, there you can see as it starts to crush the cars that were parked there. Here, very bad damage but as you get further down the street it started to do damage to buildings as well, and look at this car. Not only is it crushed underneath what is left of the mangled frame of the crane itself, but it is buried under building debris as well. We want to bring you back up because the end of this is church street. It took two city blocks for this crane to completely come down, and look at this. This is the parra pit right here that should be sitting on top of this building. That was completely demolished by the edge of the crane. We mentioned that the wrecking ball went through the roof. Were going to bring the shot in for you. You can see an actual hole in the roof where the wrecking ball went through and next to it the chains are still attached to it and falling down to the crane beneath. It is a mess here, and you can imagine what a disaster this was in the area. Unfortunately this is going to be an extended operation to clean this up. Shannon sohn channel 7 Eyewitness News. Its a counter weight. Its about 4600 pounds. This is another look of it inside that building. This was inside 55 werth street. The Police Department just tweeted this picture just so much damage caused by this collapse. You can see that the weight landed right on top of a desk. Just remarkable. As weve seen the huge mess that was left by this collapse, several streets around the area of the crash are still closed and some bus routes have been redirected. Heather orourke takes us through the best ways to navigate around the crash site. These closures are going to stay in place for quite some time. Were going to have werth street closed down between husband son and church streets until further notice and the streets between canal and chamber streets between hudson and church streets are going to also be closed down. This could affect traffic to and from the holland tunnel because of the closures below canal street. And in addition to this you will also find that the bridge all that traffic coming into the city may also be affected. If youre leaving the downtown area this could be a problem for you. And then you have the following buses diverts, the m5, the m8, the 15, the 22, the 27, the 28. Path trains, World Trade Center pedestrian traffic may also be affected. Heather orourke channel 7 Eyewitness News. Investigative reporter jim hoffer is taking a closer look. You can see his report on Eyewitness News at 6. You can see many more pictures and video from the scene at our website abc7ny. One of the two Police Officers recovering after a shooting in a bronx housing complex was just released from the hospital minutes ago. Listen to the applause for officer patrick e sberg walked out cheers from his colleagues. Police have identified the man who they say shot those officers and then shot and Eyewitness News reporter marcus solis at Lincoln Hospital in the mott haven section with the story. There was a huge crowd on hand to wish their colleague well as he was discharged. We have tape of the officer leaving the hospital. He was wheeled out in a wheelchair but only for a little bit. He got up waved to the crowd. When asked how he was feeling he said he was feeling good. You can see a bruise on his face. He was shot. That bullet grazing the tip of his nose and his cheekbone as he was responding doing a vertical patrol yesterday with his partner at the melrose, shot by a suspect identified as malik chavez who then turned the gun on himself after he fled into an apartment. Now police say that officer esquit despite being shot yesterday when emts responded to tend to him he said make sure you take care of my partner first. But for ten years hes been with the air national guard. The unit commander issued a statement which reads. A profoundly professional airmen. So it does not surprise us at all that he conducted himself with courage and distinction in his duties with the nypd. Esquid grew up in jamaica queens. A very good humble respectful child. , hell rush, come, and put it inside. As for officer cruz she attended borough of Manhattan Community college before joining the force two years ago. She lives with her parents in bronx. Hardworking decent family, believe me. People. Reporter and this afternoon i spoke with officer cruzs father off camera. He tells me that his daughter is doing well. Yesterday. The bullet still lodged in her abdomen. A few more days. Were live at Lincoln Hospital, marcus solis channel 7 Eyewitness News. We look forward to her release. Thank you. Were going to turn now to the snow and the timing of it, well, it was pretty awful and made for a huge mess for the morning commute this morning. Long island saw the worst of it. Dozens of accidents were reported in suffolk and Nassau County, mostly fender benders. Cars and are trucks struggled through the morning rush hour crawling as the visibility dropped and the snow continued to pile up. Even all wheel drive vehicles had some trouble. I was going to the entrance of the expressway, and my car kind of slid and did a 180. I tried to maneuver and it fell into the ditch. Long Island Railroad experienced some delays due to weather conditions. Now trains are running on or close to schedule. The storm downed power lines leaving more than 16,000 customers without electricity at one point during the storm. Some places like new york city saw good melting when the sun afternoon, but temperatures are dipping and that could mean a refreeze and a slippery ride home. Meteorologist lee goldberg has a look at that and some of todays snow totals. Our view fractures long island must be looking outside saying are you kidding me, dry pavement. Blue sky across the island. Plenty leftover in long island. Heres the snowfall amounts, look at st. James and bethpage pushing a foot, a lot of 8 and 9inch amounts across long island. Lower Hudson Valley did well, 5 inches of snow in white plains. Jfk coming in at 4. 5 inches and the park officially 2. 5, still waiting for the final total, i think were going to get closer to 3 inches in the park. North caldwell new jersey nearly 6 inches. West orange 4inch, ridgewood 3 and harrison new jersey at 3 inches and connecticut doing well, 7 to 9 inches bridgeport nearly 3 inches of snowfall. Look at the camera shaking and shivering. Its a gusty wind, were at 39 feeling like freezing and upper 20s right now. Those wind gusts are over 30 and will remain high through the first part of the evening, then back off. Theres the last of the snow leaving the south fork pushing away from montauk and the clearing will continue overnight. The problem now will be the melting snow and then the refreezing as we drop below freezing all over the area, temperatures will be in the mid 20s by morning. The post storm problems we have to be concerned about, with the heavy wet snow youve got downed trees and power lines. Still hearing about newly formed power outages. Refreezing will mean icy roads across the area and watch out with this heavy, wet snow and some melting during the afternoon, falling big clumps of snow. Keep your headsup, especially going through the city. The window sills on the area buildings, there will be falling snow through the evening hours. Pretty storm but also a problematic storm. Well have more on that, your weekend forecast and multiple snow threats coming up next week. Its all ahead in accuweather theres a lot to keep track of. Let us help you with that. Download the accutrack weather app by searching abc7ny in the app or google play storm. Were going to have much more on how the snow impacted Nassau County coming up later in our broadcast. And another case of the zika virus confirmed in our area. Im Neil Patrick Harris and new york is my home. No place has more world class culture. Come winter, i cant wait to visit our mustsee collections of art and superb photography and film. New york has beautifully restored theaters, that are now important centers for the performing arts. And museums that preserve the glories of the past. Winter in new york state means more great things to do than ever. Plan your trip at iloveny. Com theres something for everyone. Meet the moores were the moore family, and as you can see, we need an internet that can do more. And more streaming. So we need more speed. Thats why we switched to Time Warner Cable. You can too. Call now. Now we can connect more devices, at the same time. The wifi in this house is amazing. So is my guacamole. Hi grandma and grandpa ha, look at that [laughs] Time Warner Cable even has an internet plan for us. Get the Internet Speed thats right for you. From 3 megs to ultra fast 300 megs they even made it easy to switch with a onehour arrival window. Why settle for less, when you can get more get 50 meg internet for 39. 99 per month. Call now. You could get free installation, no data cap, and access to over 400,000 twc wifi hotspots with select plans. Sharply. 151,000 jobs were added last month causing the unemployment rated to fall from 5 to 4. 9 . This is still the lowest level since 2008. President obama says the country has come a long way. Over the past six months, wages have grown at their and the policies that ill push this year are designed to give workers even more leverage to earn raises and promotions. While president obama is praising the jobs report, investors werent so optimistic. The dow closed the day down 211 points to end the week at 16204. Four days before the hampshire primary and senator Bernie Sanders holds a wide lead over Hillary Clinton in the democratic race. Last nights one on one debate produced some of the most heated exchanges yet between the two. Talk about the issues that divide us. Let us talk about issues. We both agree. Polls show sanders leading clinton by as many as 30 points in New Hampshire, and a new National Poll shows clintons lead over sanders has narrowed to just 2 points. Meanwhile, seven republican candidates will take the debate stage tomorrow night. Donald trump and ben carson are taking aim at ted cruz. When you win in the state of iowa, your opponents want to tear you down. Donald trump leads the pack in New Hampshire but new polls show marco rubio has moved into second place. You can watch the abc news gop debate tomorrow night here on channel 7. You can also watch it on the watch abc app. All of it starts at 8 00. If youre battling health problems, remembering all of that medication can be awfully confusing. Coming up, were going to tell you why the answer to that problem could be inside that bottle. Were going to tell you how its changing the game for people who take a lot of pills. Goldberg takes [ male announcer ] 20 minutes after you quit smoking your Blood Pressure decreases. After 2 days your chance of heart at