Poughkeepsie Galleria parking garage collapses due to snow

Shahreen Saifi Assistant News Editor

Part of the upper deck of a parking area collapsed at the Poughkeepsie Galleria at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, burying several cars under snow and debris. The southeast section of the mall, ranging from Target to JCPenney, was subsequently shut down to allow rescue teams to survey the wreckage. Despite the potentially devastating nature of the collapse, no injuries were sustained and only a few cars were damaged.

“We’re just hoping there isn’t [anyone trapped under the debris]…no one's come forward yet,” New Hamburg Fire Department spokesman Jeff Renihan told the Poughkeepsie Journal on Friday. Since then, no one has been reported injured or missing.
Poughkeepsie Police Department Captain Thomas Mauro said that surveillance tape of the area three hours prior to incident had been viewed and that there did not appear to be anyone in the vicinity at the time of the incident.

The collapse left in its wake a gaping hold, 50 feet by 100 feet, with a mound of snow at its center. Approximately 60 cars were parked on each deck at the time, but none of the cars on top were affected.

Some mall shoppers were stranded at the mall for hours as rescue teams determined whether the area was safe and waited on a latecoming crane that was supposed to help clear the damage.

Poughkeepsie Galleria General Manager Joseph Castaldo told the Poughkeepsie Journal that there had never been problems with the structure of the parking area before. When asked about the cost of rebuilding, he replied, “we’re not interested in that,” insisting that safety issues were more important.

Apart from that statement and the official press release by the Galleria’s parent company, Pyramid Management Group, mall officials have refused comment. According to the release, “At this time, we are working closely with local, county, and state agency representatives in determining the cause of this collapse. As always, public safety is our top priority.”

Nonetheless, the mall officials’ statement was confirmed by Poughkeepsie Town Supervisor Patricia Myers, who said that they had gone “above and beyond” in cooperating with the town administration.

Officials determined that the cause of the collapse was the weight of a large mound of snow, which had been piled in one corner by work crews from Bridge View Excavation after last Wednesday’s snowstorm. The steel and concrete parking area was built in 1987 and, though it may have since given way to architectural deterioration, was originally designed to hold 50 pounds per square foot. According to Town Building Inspector Tim Sickles, approximately 300 pounds of snow per square foot was weighing down the structure on Thursday.

On Friday, Feb. 16, town officials blamed Bridge View Excavation for the collapse. “It doesn't seem like the brightest idea,” said Myers, of piling the snow. “This could have been a total catastrophe.”

According to The Times Herald-Record, Bridge View Excavation’s legal representative Steve Melley responded by pointing out that the garage had been neglected for years. “This is ridiculous. The storm wasn't even that big. The snow was removed in the same, approved way it has been for 15 years.” Melley also noted that the mall had hired a structural engineer in 2005 when concrete flaking was noticed in the garage.