Ice believed to have fallen more than 1,400 feet from a Midtown condo crushed the roof and smashed the windshield of Deneice O’Connor’s car as she drove up Sixth Ave., the shaken motorist said Saturday.
“It just crashed down on me. I immediately thought a body had fallen on my car,” O’Connor, 35, told the Daily News.
The Friday afternoon incident is under investigation by the city Buildings Department, which could fine the owners of 111 W. 57th St., the “Billionaires’ Row” building from which investigators believe the ice fell.
O’Connor, a Brooklyn resident and prop master on TV and movie sets, said she was driving up Sixth Ave. around W. 58th St. around 4:30 p.m. when the ice hit her 2016 Honda Fit. Photos show the ice smashed through the car’s sunroof and windshield.
“The roof did crash down on my head. I didn’t black out — that was lucky — but it was pretty traumatic,” O’Connor said.
“It took me a second to gather myself,” she said. “I realized I needed to get the car out of traffic’s way. The ice continued falling.”
She pulled over to the curb and ran under an awning as sheets of ice continued to fall around her.
“It was 10-foot long panes of ice,” she said. “I truly believe I cheated death.”
Police reported one other person injured by falling ice in Midtown on Friday — a 17-year-old girl injured by ice that fell from 40 W. 57th St., near the spot where O’Connor was hit. The teen was treated for her injury at the scene, said police.
The Buildings Department said it was told by first responders about a third person who was injured by falling ice in the area.
Sixth Ave. remained closed to vehicles on Saturday night between W. 57th St. and Central Park South, and signs in the area warned of falling ice. But some people were allowed on sidewalks in the area.
O’Connor was taken to Mount Sinai West Hospital. She said she was released after a series of medical tests and scans.
City Buildings Department inspectors issued a violation against the owners of 111 W. 57th St. on the ground that the building is “non-compliant” with city rules. The penalties in the case have yet to be determined. A department spokesman said the matter remains under investigation.
O’Connor said her harrowing experience makes her question whether developers considered falling ice when they built 111 W. 57th Street, where apartments are marketed to the super rich.
“Did it ever occur to them that they built this building in the Northeast, and we have weather like this, and the ice accumulates on the top?” O’Connor asked. “It feels incredibly irresponsible.”
A spokesman for 111 W. 57th St. — which was built atop the old Steinway piano showroom building — said Saturday that building management was not aware of O’Connor’s injury. The Building Department’s issuance of a violation against the building is a matter of public record.
With Thomas Tracy and Sarah Gil
