Watch: NYC Garbage Truck Drags Dining Shed 10 Feet With Patrons Inside

The last 18 months haven’t exactly been a lazy boat ride for the people of NYC. COVID and a wave of hurricanes have taken their toll, and to top it all off, rostitutes and drug dealers re-emerge in to the city’s streets while surging violent crime and on-again, off-again protests have left the NYPD defunded and disillusioned.

Underlying it all is the growing sense that the Big Apple is no longer “safe” for regular people. And as if a daytime shooting in crowded Times Square wasn’t enough, now diners need to worry about being steamrolled by a preoccupied city worker while trying to enjoy a meal in one of the outdoor dining sheds that have become commonplace across America’s city’s (and particularly New York) since the pandemic began.

According to Gothamist, a Department of Sanitation truck plowed into an outdoor dining shed, dragging it and the diners inside about ten feet before it finally came to a stop. Shocking footage shared by Gothamist captures the aftermath. Fortunately, the two people inside the shed weren’t badly injured during the incident, according to the NYPD.

A manager at the Greenwich Village restaurant Bar 6, described the incident as shocking.

“It was shocking, definitely felt like an earthquake, seeing a structure drag across the street,” said Anna Socolof, a manager at Bar Six. “I was worried for the safety of our customers, and also for the safety of everyone involved.”

Socolof complained to Gothamist that the bar had previously warned a local newspaper about “just such a possibility”

But police played down the incident, telling the press that nobody was injured and no summons were issued to the driver.

“Sanitation Workers have an incredibly difficult job keeping our streets clean,” DSNY spokesperson Joshua Goodman said. “We are relieved that no one was hurt in this incident, and will be conducting a full investigation.”

As more garbage piles up in the city, and reports of rat infestations soar, the overburdened DSNY might find it increasingly difficult to successfully keep the city’s streets tidy while not pancaking pedestrians.