A 150-foot tall wind turbine partially collapsed in the Bronx on Monday afternoon, sending blades and pieces of its "monopole" crashing down onto a large billboard, which then fell in a shopping center in Co-op City.

Witness Basil Rodriguez told WCBS 2, "It just pulled apart like a helicopter propeller and the steeple that it was on came crashing down, and I’m seeing a lot of kids hang out over there. Thank god there wasn’t a lot of kids hanging out over there because school wasn’t out yet."

The wind turbine, which is in the shopping center at the corner of Baychester Avenue and Bartow Avenue, collapsed around 1:45 p.m. yesterday. Its blades could be seen in the parking lot, and part of the billboard fell onto a car.

It's believed that wind may have knocked the turbine down. State Senator Jamaal Bailey, who had been critical of the wind turbine's installation, said on Twitter, "A wind turbine should not be able to be taken down by the wind."

The wind turbine had been a controversial feature in the neighborhood. The community was already reportedly up in arms about the illuminated billboard, and some believe, according to the Bronx Times, that after the "property's owner was denied a NYC Department of Buildings permit for a third billboard, he decided to install a wind turbine instead." (The third LED billboard would have been visible to Co-op City residents.)

Critics said the turbine was installed too quickly, and community board members and elected officials had been looking into whether there was proper permitting involved. News 12 reported earlier this month, "It is believed that because a theme park called Freedomland used to operate on the property years ago, the zoning laws were never changed." (Freedomland was built in 1960 and went bankrupt in 1964.)

Pieces of the turbine's blades could be seen behind the shopping center by Co-op City residents.

Senator Bailey, who previously called the turbine a "monstrosity," issued a statement blasting the property owner: "The events that occurred on 500 Baychester Ave. in Co-op City are a reminder that we can not allow any type of building structure be put up so hastily, and that the Department of Buildings needs to properly inspect these structures prior to its assembly."

"There are many yet unanswered questions about the permission to build and the stability of a structure that was put up quite literally as residents of Co-Op City slept, and we continue to investigate this matter," his statement continued. "We are lucky that there were no injuries from the collapse of the wind turbine and the only damage, while unfortunate, was property damage. We are even luckier that this was not a day where school was in session, as there are multiple schools on Baychester Avenue and the injuries could have been devastating. My office will continue to monitor this situation, and I hope that the owner of this turbine realizes that Co-op City is no place for this type of structure. Simply because one believes they can do something, they shouldn't always do so."