A private tour bus carrying a group of dancers travelling to Manhattan from Canada crashed into building scaffolding that was erected in front of a homeless shelted in the Hell’s Kitchen area of the city. The Optimum Rides bus reportedly hit a large pothole at a high rate of speed, then veered off of the road and jumped the curb, crashing into the construction work erected in front of the Covenant House on West 42nd Street and 10th Avenue at 8:10 in the morning. Debris from the scaffolding was sent down onto the roof of the bus and pedestrians walking under the scaffolding ran for their lives.
The bus had been carrying 44 passengers on a 14-hour ride from New Brunswick Canada to New York where The Dance Zone Studio was scheduled to participate in the Tremaine dance convention at the Grande Hyatt on 42nd Street. The group was evacuated from the bus at the time of the accident, and there was reportedly only one minor injury to a passenger. The group had been headed to Carlo’s Bakery when the accident occurred.
Lisa Rumson-Harrity was on board and is the other of one of the dancers. She said, “We hit a pothole and it felt like something broke under the bus. Everybody was terrified. Everything fell on top of the bus from the scaffolding. I was afraid for my children. My daughter was right next to me. She was screaming and crying, horrified.”
The bus’ passengers included twenty children aged nine through sixteen as well as their adult chaperones, family members and dance coaches. Another passenger, Maureen Pappas, praised the driver. “The driver did a good job and if wasn’t working, the accident could have been worse.”
A pedestrian who had been under the scaffolding at the time of the accident reported watching the bus speed over a very deep pothole and then speeding in her direction. Vinneca Antoine said, “The scaffolding started falling like dominoes … I was running while it was falling from behind me. All I heard was screams.”
Manny Suarez, who witnessed the accident, points the blame on the pothole. “I believe the pothole was the reason for the accident. It has been there for over a year and they always come and do a quick fix and never do a permanent job on it.”