A massive, crumbling concrete hotel marquee suddenly collapsed onto a Brooklyn sidewalk Sunday morning in a terrifying scene that onlookers said was straight out of a \u201cFinal Destination\u201d movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This historic 10-by-20-foot Hotel St. George awning, perched above the Clark Street subway station in Brooklyn Heights, came crashing down in a thunderous roar just after 7 a.m., according to witnesses and startling footage obtained by The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No one was injured or walking near the Henry Street subway entrance when the collapse occurred \u2013 but a city council member warned the outcome could have been far worse during the weekday rush hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The collapsed awning and hotel sign at Hotel St. George on Sunday. Instagram \/ Lincoln Restler<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked by the collapse,\u201d Councilmember Lincoln Restler told Gothamist.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe are very lucky that this happened at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, because if it happened at 7 a.m. any other day of the week, we would\u2019ve in all likelihood encountered serious injuries, if not fatalities.\u201d<\/p>\n The historic marquee suddenly collapsed just after 7 a.m. Sunday. Instagram \/ Lincoln Restler<\/p>\n Restler, who shared video and images<\/a> of the dramatic scene on social media, said he\u2019s received complaints from constituents about the \u201cgrimy\u201d and \u201cabysmal\u201d station for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that the head of New York City Transit toured the property Friday \u2014 just days before the near disaster \u2014 at the city council\u2019s request.\u00a0<\/p>\n A witness said it sounded like a thunderstorm when it smashed down on the sidewalk. Instagram \/ Lincoln Restler<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s grimy. It\u2019s very rarely cleaned and we have a number of small businesses that are based in that space and it\u2019s often so hot that they struggle to stay open on the warmest days of the summer,\u201d Restler told Eyewitness News.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSo this is not a landlord that has been investing or caring for or properly maintaining the Clark Street subway station, and clearly they\u2019re not maintaining the exterior of the building either.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n City building officials said a similar marquee above the station\u2019s other Clark Street entrance is also showing signs of neglect and poor maintenance, Gothamist reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n The overhang was left dangling off the building, covering nearly the entire sidewalk. Instagram \/ Lincoln Restler<\/p>\n The famed Hotel St. George was once the largest hotel in New York City, with sections dating back to the 1800s. Today, it houses retailers and apartments, with its former lobby serving as an entrance to No. 2 and No. 3 trains \u2013 which reportedly bypassed the mangled station all day Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alyeen Rojas, a 19-year-old New York Film Academy student who lives at the iconic hotel, said it sounded like a thunderstorm when the fa\u00e7ade crashed down onto the sidewalk. <\/p>\n \u201cImagine that someone went to that station in the morning,\u201d Rojas told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n Officials said no one was hurt, but a city council member said the situation could have been deadly during rush hour. Steven Vago\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone could have died. The building is so old, I think that\u2019s why [the awning collapsed].\u201d<\/p>\n The steel and concrete overhang is now dangling from the building, nearly covering the entire sidewalk, with debris scattered across the cordoned-off site, according to photos taken at the scene.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThank God it didn\u2019t happen at 7 a.m. on a Monday,\u201d Jamie Dalton, a 21-year-old Brooklyn Heights resident, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very \u2018Final Destination.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Restler could not immediately be reached.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t