Mexican tall ship strikes Brooklyn Bridge, snapping masts and killing 2 crew members

NEW YORK (AP) — A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday, snapping its three masts, killing two crew members and leaving some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage but at least 19 people aboard the ship needed medical treatment.

Two of the four people who suffered serious injuries later died, Adams announced on social media early Sunday.

The cause of the collision was under investigation.

In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the ship, called the Cuauhtemoc, could be seen traveling swiftly in reverse toward the bridge near the Brooklyn side of the East River. Then, its three masts struck the bridge's span and snapped, one by one, as the ship kept moving.

Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the 8:20 p.m. collision. No one on the bridge was reported injured.

The vessel, which was flying a giant Mexican flag and had 277 people aboard, then drifted into a pier on the riverbank as onlookers scrambled away.

Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts but, remarkably, no one fell into the water, officials said.

Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge.

“We saw someone dangling, and I couldn’t tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz said.

Just before the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took his phone out to capture the backdrop of the ship and the bridge against a sunset, Instead, he heard what sounded like the loud snapping of a “big twig." Several more snaps followed.

People in his vicinity began running and “pandemonium” erupted aboard the ship, he said. He later saw a handful of people dangling from a mast.

“I didn’t know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?” he said.

The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc was an academy training vessel. It said a total of 22 people were injured, 19 of whom needed medical treatment.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum regretted the loss of the two crew members.

“Our solidarity and support go out to their families,” Sheinbaum said on X.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot (490-meter) main span supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city’s transportation department. Its walkway is a major tourist attraction.

Traffic was halted after the collision but was allowed to resume after an inspection, city officials said.

It was unclear what caused the ship to veer off course. New York Police Department Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said the ship had just left a Manhattan pier and was supposed to have been headed out to sea, not toward the bridge.

He said an initial report was that the pilot of the ship had lost power due to a mechanical problem, though officials cautioned that information was preliminary. Videos show a tugboat was close to the Cuauhtemoc at the time of the crash.

The Cuauhtemoc — about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican navy — sailed for the first time in 1982.

The vessel’s main mast has a height of 160 feet (48.9 meters), according to the Mexican government.

As midnight approached, the broken boat was moved slowly up the East River, going under and past the Manhattan Bridge, aided by a series of tugboats, before docking at a pier. Onlookers continued to gather on the waterfront to watch the spectacle.

Each year the Cuauhtemoc sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets' training. This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6, the navy said.

It arrived in New York City on May 13, where visitors were welcome for several days, the Mexican consulate said. The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations over 254 days, 170 of them at sea.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz in New York, Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix, Arizona, and Gene Johnson in Seattle, Washington, contributed to this report.

After colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening, the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship, sits docked at Pier 35 Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A New York Police officer stands watch on Pier 35 where the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship that collided with the Brooklyn Bridge the night before, sits docked. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Police officers stands watch on Pier 35 where the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship that collided with the Brooklyn Bridge the night before, sits docked. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Sailors work on the yard arms of the Cuauhtémoc, Sunday, May 18, 2025 in New York. The masted Mexican Navy training ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge the night before. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Sailors work on the yard arms of the Cuauhtémoc, Sunday, May 18, 2025 in New York. The masted Mexican Navy training ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge the night before. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park look on as a masted Mexican Navy training ship sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Crew members aboard the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship, gather on deck after the ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Tug boats assist the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship, toward Pier 35 after it collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The New York skyline and Brooklyn Bridge are framed in one of the snapped masts of a Mexican Navy training ship after it collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A New York Police Department harbor unit passes in front of the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship as it sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A tug boat helps stabilize the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship as it sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A Mexican navy ship sits in the water after it hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, May 17, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Kyle Viterbo)

A masted Mexican Navy training ship, the Cuauhtémoc, sits stranded after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Viterbo)

A masted Mexican Navy training ship, the Cuauhtémoc, sits stranded after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge after, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Kyle Viterbo)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Emma Stone just seems more comfortable out of her seat than in it at awards shows.

At the Golden Globes Sunday, the “Bugonia” star held court with a rotating cast of companions, from Kirsten Dunst to Jennifer Lawrence -- not in the main ballroom, but in a much smaller side room with a bar, a tea and coffee station and an ever-replenishing supply of decadent desserts, Nobu sushi, caviar cups and, perhaps most importantly, no television cameras.

Here’s some more of what you didn’t see on the Golden Globes broadcast.

Before the show even started Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo found one another near the bar and chatted for a while, not about plans for an impromptu “Thriller” dance, but about how Jay Penske, whose media empire includes Hollywood trade publications like “The Hollywood Reporter,” “Variety” and “Deadline,” also co-owns the Golden Globes. “Isn’t that crazy,” he said. Conversation then shifted to how he nearly missed his own category last year due to the security backup at the drop off area. He made it in, eventually, but just by a hair and had to take a seat in the aisle.

As the clock ticked down, Glen Powell escorted his mother into the ballroom, taking her arm to navigate the steps Alicia Silverstone just had to sidestep down. They spotted their table off to the side and Powell took a beat: “Want to hit the bar then?”

Silverstone was having her own issues though, and another mom soon came to the rescue: Mila Kunis was on a mission to deliver some Band-Aids to Silverstone, who thanked her profusely.

Elsewhere, Colman Domingo danced his way to his table. Teyana Taylor, flanked by security trying to rush her to her seat, snapped a selfie with a guest. Rose Byrne paused to hug Elle Fanning, while Universal chair Donna Langley spoke to Benicio Del Toro. And Kylie Jenner made her way in at the last minute, without Timothée Chalamet and with only minutes to showtime.

Stone beelined to the side room after the first award, leading her “Bugonia” director Yorgos Lanthimos and costar Alicia Silverstone along with her. Stone and Lanthimos were deep in conversation, with brief interruptions requesting selfies.

Over at the coffee and tea station, Kirsten Dunst was halfway through pouring herself a cup of coffee when she paused and told husband Jesse Plemons “I don’t want this, do you?” Her order instead was cranberry and some sparkling, which Plemons dutifully delivered to her throughout the night. Both were also excited to greet Wagner Moura.

After Stellan Skarsgård’s win, Sean Penn made his way to the “Sentimental Value” table to give Renate Reinsve a big hug, while Megan Everett-Skarsgård, who had just gotten a very public boost from her husband, celebrated with Elle Fanning.

Seth Rogen, meanwhile, followed his first win of the evening with what looked like a very, very dirty martini.

Ariana Grande led a glamorous train to the ladies’ room, telling Jessie Buckley and Reinsve to “hold on to me!” The three made a brief stop to say hi to Tessa Thompson, and pose for a photo, before reaching their destination. In the line for the toilets, Grande sighed “phew we made it,” holding up her voluminous gown as best she could. Still someone soon stepped on a part of it, apologizing profusely. Grande put her at ease immediately, though, insisting, “No, I’m the problem!”

Later in the show, Jennifer Lawrence made her way to the bar area where she hugged Jeremy Allen White before finding Stone, who put down her white wine and took her friend’s face in her hands. They fluffed their hair when a photographer asked for a photo before they decided to take their own selfie as well.

Dunst spotted Lawrence nearby too, telling “The Testament of Ann Lee” filmmaker Mona Fastvold and Zoë Kravitz that she just wanted to say hi. Plemons soon arrived with three drinks to dole out. One was not for Lawrence, who joined the line to order her own drink.

In another part of the room, Gayle King, who snacked on a small bite of dessert, appeared to have procured a to-go box for the sushi and soon was next to the “KPop Demon Hunter” women picking some choice pieces.

Patrick Schwarzenegger took a good long look at the dessert table, before moving on, empty-handed to the sushi. No protein shakes here for the “White Lotus” star.

Back inside the ballroom, the commercial breaks are a race to socialize. Everywhere you looked, there were interesting chats happening: Dwayne Johnson and Steven Spielberg, Macauly Culkin and Parker Posey, Maya Rudolph and Selena Gomez, Johnson and Timothée Chalamet and Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, to name a few.

Others stayed put in their seats as the night went on. Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Adam Sandler seemed content to hang at their very starry table. (Why get up when people can come to you instead?). Jessie Buckley let her “Hamnet” son, a tired-looking, Jacobi Jupe sit on her lap for a bit. And Eva Victor took a moment to reapply their lipstick before their category was up.

Were Marty Supreme (Chalamet) and The Smashing Machine (Johnson) talking about greatness? Was Sean Penn smoking inside the ballroom? What did Britt Lower whisper to Grande? And what did Grande then write on a napkin and pass to Lower? Why was Ethan Hawke’s wife Ryan Hawke carrying a tote bag that said “Snoop’s Survival Kit” and what was in it? And what did Stone say to the three Beverly Hills Police officers that made them laugh so much?

For more coverage of the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards

Benicio del Toro arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Audrey Nuna arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Colman Domingo arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Alicia Silverstone arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Kirsten Dunst, left, and Jesse Plemons arrive at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Jennifer Garner arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Emma Stone arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)