A taxi slammed into a restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen Thursday afternoon, injuring eight people, the FDNY said.
The crash happened at Westville on Ninth Avenue between 54th and 53rd streets just after 12:30 p.m., according to employees and the fire department.
Of the eight who were injured, five were taken to area hospitals and three refused medical attention at the scene, the FDNY said. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, per the fire department.
Two of the injured people were sitting at a table on the sidewalk outside the restaurant when the taxi mounted the curb. At least four others were walking by, video from the restaurant shows.
All of the victims were able to get up and walk away with no obvious injuries, the video shows.
Westville’s co-owner, Jay Strauss, was thankful the situation wasn’t worse.
"It was one of those things where you don’t know what to expect," he said. "When I got here I was expecting much worse."
The taxi was removed from the scene around 2 p.m. and workers were preparing to reopen the restaurant.
Department of Buildings inspectors who responded to the scene found minor damage to the restaurant’s doors, a spokeswoman said, but there was no structural damage to the building.
