Bus sinks into underground parking garage on Marcus Avenue in Lake Success

A bus with only the driver aboard sank through the top of a multilevel underground parking garage in Lake Success Tuesday evening, but there were no reported injuries, according to Nassau County assistant chief fire marshal James Hickman.

The rear tires of the bus, operated by M&V Limousines of Commack, partially went through the pavement and into the underground parking garage at 1979 Marcus Ave. at 5:21 p.m., Hickman said.

The Nassau County Police Department’s Emergency Services Bureau, along with the Nassau County Tactical Rescue Squad and Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department went to the scene, where they evaluated and stabilized the bus, Hickman said.

At the scene on Tuesday evening, police had taped off the one-way road leading to the sunken bus, where around a half-dozen officers were stationed.

An employee of one of the office building's tenants told Newsday he could not yet access his vehicle parked in the garage. He declined to share his name or employer.

An employee with M&V Limousines told Newsday Tuesday night that the bus was at the office building to pick up some clients, but that the passengers were not yet on the bus at the time of the collapse.

The driver was safe and not injured, said the employee, who declined to provide her name.

A directory inside the building and other signage indicates around a dozen tenants besides Northwell occupy the building, including the cargo transportation company Sumisho Global Logistics, office space provider Regus and health care nonprofit IPRO.

At around 7:15 p.m., members of the Northwell Health crisis management incident response team declined to speak to Newsday as they entered vehicles and left the scene.

Workers with the Town of North Hempstead building department declined to comment at the scene.

A handful of police SUVs and an Emergency Services Unit vehicle were stationed throughout the parking lot on the south side of the building. Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department vehicles were stationed on the south shoulder of Union Turnpike, beyond the perimeter of the facility.

The building's owner is listed as 1979 Marcus Km LLC, according to the Town of North Hempstead. No one associated with that LLC could be reached for comment. 

Attorney Audrey Lee Jacobs, who rents space from Regus, said she and her fellow tenants have been worried about deteriorating conditions of the building and the parking facilities for more than two years.

Several joined forces to complain to property management regarding smaller health concerns, such as a lack of paper towels in restrooms for the past two weeks, to more serious parking concerns, such as limited access due to construction and structural integrity of the underground garage.

"When you go down to the first level, big, huge puddle whenever it rains," Jacobs said of the multilevel underground garage. "There's all kinds of flooding into the garage. On the next level where I'm parked, they have a whole section cordoned off, who knows why."

Around 15 minutes before the incident Tuesday Jacobs said she told a colleague: "That garage is an accident waiting to happen."

The attorney said some workers in the building have recently resorted to parking at Target or other buildings across Union Turnpike out of fear that the garage was unsafe.

"That's what I'm going to start doing once I get my car," she added.

Around 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jacobs said a Nassau police officer took down her name and phone number and said they would reach her when she could access her car. She said the officer estimated she would not be able to access it this evening, so she requested an Uber.

Earlier in the evening, when the incident occurred, Jacobs took photographs of the scene that reveal a retaining wall along the ground level floor of the garage has become compromised.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story listed the wrong owner for the building.