Campus Alert Archive
Pace

A Garage Collapses on Ann Street and Pace Evacuates Next Door

NYinfrastructure failureemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At about 4:15 p.m. on April 18, 2023, a four-story parking garage at 57 Ann Street in Lower Manhattan collapsed, killing one worker, beside Pace University's New York City campus. Pace evacuated its adjacent 33 Beekman Street residence hall and 161 William Street academic building and canceled classes, advising the community to avoid William, Ann, and Fulton Streets. The next day, in-person classes in 161 William moved to remote format while inspectors checked the buildings.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Pace University (New York City Campus)
Private Masters · NY
~13,000 studentsPaceAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimPace University official Twitter/X account, tweet at 4:29 PM EDT on April 18, 2023, quoted verbatim in The Pace Press coverage212 chars
EMERGENCY ALERT: Please be advised of a building collapse near the Pace NYC Campus. Members of the community should avoid William, Ann, and Fulton streets. Continue to monitor https://t.co/4VgIJ22Idu for updates.
Verbatim text from Pace University's official Twitter/X account at 4:29 PM EDT on April 18, 2023, 14 minutes after the 57 Ann Street parking garage collapsed at 4:15 PM EDT
Alert header is 'EMERGENCY ALERT' — all caps, without the 'PaceAlert:' branded prefix seen in some other Pace notifications
The hazard originated off-campus — a privately owned parking garage at 57 Ann Street — yet forced evacuation of adjacent Pace buildings, a classic dense-urban-campus spillover scenario.
Naming three specific streets gave students precise, actionable boundaries in a tight Lower Manhattan grid; the alert directed monitoring of Pace's emergency-updates page for follow-on instructions
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction284 chars
PaceAlert: All in-person classes on the NYC Campus are canceled for the remainder of today. The buildings at 33 Beekman St. and 161 William St. remain evacuated as the City inspects the collapse site. Residential students have been provided accommodations. Continue to avoid the area.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed: reporting confirmed classes were canceled and that residential students from 33 Beekman were given accommodations while the city inspected the site.
The update keeps the area closed rather than lifting restrictions, correctly framing it as a status update and not an all-clear.
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction296 chars
PaceAlert: City inspectors have determined that 33 Beekman St. and 161 William St. are structurally safe. 33 Beekman is reopening for residents. Classes normally held in 161 William will proceed in a remote format today, and staff in that building will work remotely. Further updates will follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed: reporting confirmed city inspectors cleared both buildings as structurally sound and that 161 William classes shifted to remote format on April 19, 2023.
This is a partial all-clear: the residence hall reopened but 161 William stayed in remote mode and was ultimately closed for the rest of the spring semester.
Context

Background

Pace University's New York City campus occupies a cluster of buildings in the dense Lower Manhattan grid near City Hall. At about 4:15 p.m. on April 18, 2023, a privately owned four-story parking garage at 57 Ann Street collapsed, killing one garage worker, directly beside Pace's 161 William Street and 33 Beekman Street buildings. Pace evacuated both buildings, canceled NYC classes, and told the community to avoid William, Ann, and Fulton Streets while the city inspected the scene. Residential students from 33 Beekman were given accommodations. The following day, city inspectors cleared both Pace buildings as structurally sound, and 161 William's classes moved to a remote format; the building was ultimately closed for the rest of the spring semester per Pace Press reporting. The case is a vivid illustration of the off-campus-hazard problem for dense urban universities: a structural failure in a neighboring private building can instantly turn a residence hall and an academic building into an emergency-notification scene.
Analysis

Key Findings

The hazard originated in a neighboring private parking garage, not a Pace building, yet the university bore the evacuation and notification burden — a defining feature of dense urban campuses
Naming specific buildings and three streets gave students precise, actionable boundaries within a tight Lower Manhattan grid
The notification sequence moved from immediate evacuation to a partial all-clear, with the residence hall reopening while the academic building stayed closed for the semester
One worker in the collapsed garage died, but Pace's prompt evacuation kept its community uninjured despite the adjacency
Outcome
One garage worker was killed in the collapse. No Pace community members were injured; 33 Beekman and 161 William were later cleared as structurally sound, with 161 William ultimately closed for the remainder of the spring semester.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    NYC parking garage collapse: Pace University building next door closes for spring semester - ABC7 New York
    abc7ny.com
  2. News
    Nearby Pace University evacuates 2 buildings, cancels classes following parking garage collapse - CBS New York
    cbsnews.com
  3. Student Paper
    University students momentarily displaced after building collapse near campus - The Pace Press
    thepacepress.org
  4. News
    Pace University closes building for the semester after parking garage collapse - PIX11
    pix11.com
Tags
infrastructure-failurebuilding-collapseemergency-notificationnew-yorkevacuationurban-campus
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion