The fire department says all three were initially trapped in the accident Thursday morning in upper Manhattan.
A spokesman for St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital says one victim was dead on arrival Thursday. One was in stable condition and the third was being evaluated.
In 2008, two construction crane collapses in the city killed a total of seven people within two months. In one collapse, a crane rigger was acquitted of manslaughter and all other charges. In the other, a manslaughter trial for the crane's owner began last month.
