The incident happened just after 11:30 a.m. near the intersection of Broadway and Prince in SoHo.
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Pictures from the scene show wooden planks all over the street, and FDNY firefighters at the scene.
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FDNY officials said "we're absolutely" lucky there aren't more injured in the busy neighborhood. The scaffolding collapsed over a subway entrance, but no train had let out at the time.
Investigators said strong wind is to blame for the collapse. A piece of plywood "acted like a sail" and blew the whole rig down.
Officials said all all five injuries are minor and not life-threatening.