Local stores still hurting from crane collapse

Neighborhood businesses say they are still suffering from the crane collapse that killed seven people at 303 East 51st Street, at Second Avenue, in March. Business owners say the scaffolding erected around their establishments have made it difficult for them to attract customers and recover losses. Four stores, including two restaurants, a laundromat and a nail salon, are still closed because of the crane collapse, and local businesses that have reopened are hurting. Krunch Pizza, on Second Avenue and 52nd Street, and the next door pub Clancy’s have seen significantly less business because of the scaffolding around the storefronts. “People stay on the other side of the block. Our street has no aesthetic appeal anymore,” said a bartender at Clancy’s.