CRACKS BEFORE CAVE-IN

Workers knew it ‘was going to happen’

An employee who survived the Manhattan parking-garage collapse said he and his fellow workers were well aware of the cracks in the building — and that the manager who died in the tragedy even warned ownership of the dangerous condition.

Pierre Vancol, 50, told The Post Friday that cracks could be easily seen all over the 57 Ann St. parking garage, which fell in on itself Tuesday, killing building manager Willis Moore and injuring five others.

“I always know that thing was going to happen,” said Vancol, a Haitian immigrant. “They have cracks in the building . . . they park the big cars on the roof, I say, ‘Wow! It’s not safe, it’s not really safe because up there if anything happens, those cars gonna come crashing down.’

“I was expecting that but, you know . . . . ”

He said Moore, 59, recently tried to have something done about it.

“One guy call to Willis and explaining like, you know, how the crack is. Mr. Willis tells the boss like, you know, something is wrong that time, they supposed to fix it,” he recalled. “That day he was complaining about it. He is a man like that. If he saw something wrong, he always like, you know, talk to the boss and tell them what’s going on.”

Vancol said the owner apparently came by later — and the workers were told something would be done.

“I saw, like three weeks ago, the owner like walked in with people. Make pictures and this and that. I saw them outside . . . take a look at everything,” Vancol said.

History of damage

It was not clear if the owner Vancol was referring to was from Little Man Parking, which runs the garage, or real estate investor brothers Jeffrey and Alan Henick, who jointly run the 57 Ann St. Realty Association that owns the building.

Little Man Parking and the Henicks did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Vancol’s claims coincide with engineering documents obtained by

The Post that showed the building has a lengthy history of structural issues that required substantial repairs — including 11-footlong cracks in the walls and roof. It’s not clear if any of the dangerous issues were ever repaired.

Vancol also noted that management instructed them to park SUVs on the roof because there was no other space for the large vehicles in the garage.

A preliminary FDNY report concluded that the deadly collapse was likely caused by the building’s age — it was built in 1925 — and the number of cars on its top deck.

Vancol said moment the structure began to shake, he was reminded of the earthquakes that plague his native Haiti.

“I saw the first floor coming down, the third floor, second floor, and that’s the place like where Mr. Willis [had] gone,” Vancol said.

He tried calling Moore, but got no response. Vancol feared the worst for his boss, whom he described as a “good person” as he began tearing up.

Vancol said that after he lost a previous job, Willis hired him on the spot to work at the parking garage. He said Moore would always help his employees and chat with them about business on slow days.

The office of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said Wednesday it will probe the cause of the collapse.