A Car Slammed Into a Hardware Store in the East Village

A car jumped the curb and slammed into Saifee Hardware in the East Village this afternoon.

Mukaram Taherly, a manger at the family-run hardware store on the corner of First Avenue and East Seventh Street, said he was in the office when he heard what sounded like “a big explosion.” According to witnesses, a BMW struck a delivery van from behind and then spun out of control, plowing into some plant carts in front of the hardware store.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m.; one of the drivers was taken to Bellevue Hospital with serious injuries but in stable condition, the fire department said.

According to Taherly, the driver of the BMW was put into an ambulance with a nosebleed and no one else was injured.

The fire department said there was no structural damage; the flower carts took the brunt of the collision, Taherly said.

When we arrived on the scene, workers at the hardware store were behind police tape, cleaning up its shattered front window.