Flags at City Hall and other city-owned buildings were lowered Saturday in response to this week’s tragic roof collapse at a Santo Domingo nightclub that left at least 221 people dead and over 200 injured.
“We stand in solidarity with our Dominican community,” Mayor Adams wrote on X. “We continue to mourn the more than 200 people killed in the tragic roof collapse in the Dominican Republic.”
The flags will remain lowered through the weekend.
Adams on Sunday will be traveling to the Dominican Republic with NYC Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who is Dominican, where they will pay their respects following Tuesday’s incident.
Pro-sports athletes, politicians and a fashion designer were among those inside the Jet Set nightclub when its rooftop came down in the middle of popular merengue singer Rubby Perez’s performance on Tuesday, triggering a 53-hour search and rescue mission in the capital of Santo Domingo.
Among the dead were Perez, former World Series champion Octavio Dotel and former Major League Baseball player Tony Blanco, father of current Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Tony Blanco Jr.
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Dotel, who started as a Mets prospect and also played with the Yankees, won a ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Blanco Sr., who played briefly for the Washington Nationals.
Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz, reportedly alerted Dominican President Luis Abinader to the disaster, calling him from under the debris. Officials said Nelsy Cruz later died at a hospital.
Other victims include a retired U.N. official, New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco, an Army captain who left behind four young girls, and three employees at Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
