Metro

Driver smashes into crane carrying massive bronze sculpture

A deranged driver speeding through Manhattan yesterday struck a pedestrian and smashed into a crane carrying a massive bronze sculpture — then jumped out of his sports car and disappeared into a nearby train station, witnesses said.

The driver, described as a 6-foot-tall Asian man in his late 20s, was traveling westbound on East 53rd Street when he crashed his gray Infiniti G35 into a three-ton crane at the corner of Park Avenue at about 10:30 a.m.

The car sandwiched itself underneath the outrigger, sustaining major hood and windshield damage.

A 6,000-pound bronze sculpture, “Chaos Nervion” by artist Jedd Novatt, was dangling about 40 feet in the air when the sports car struck the crane’s outrigger, which is used to stabilize the structure itself.

The piece, which is owned by an art broker who lives at the Lever House, was not damaged.

Crane worker Dean Fucetola, 45, rushed to the driver’s aid and sat him in the back seat.

“He was talking all out of sorts,” Fucetola said. “Then he got out, walked around here, and took off.”

The worker chased the man eastbound for a couple of blocks until he disappeared into the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street Station.

“He was definitely a weird guy, definitely had problems,” Focetola added.

Witnesses said the man was being chased by a cabby who allegedly had witnessed the driver strike a pedestrian a few blocks away.

The cabby called police and yelled, “Stop that man!” before leaving the scene.

Cops said the hit-and-run victim sustained minor injuries and was not transported to a hospital.

Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger