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[UPDATE] Crane Collapse On West 57th, Parts Dangle Over Street
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 29, 2012
Modified Oct 29, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 29, 2012
Modified Oct 29, 2012
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The crane on a very high floor of the new luxury condo, One57 at 157 West 57th Street, has partially collapsed, due to the high winds from Hurricane Sandy: Part of the equipment is now dangling, and debris and glass are apparently falling onto West 56th Street.
The building is supposed to be 90 stories. So far, no injuries have been reported.
Developer Gary Barnett of Extell told the Observer, "Can’t talk now but we don’t know anything yet. Hopefully no one is going to get hurt." WABC 7 estimated that wind gusts at that height to be around 100 mph.
NBC News' Top of the Rock cam is pointed at the crane:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
And Donald Trump, whose wife Melania took a photo of the crane, wrote on Facebook, "Direct view of crane from apartment window. Crane was never properly secured, blowing in the breeze." and Tweeted, "All weights are on crane's wrong side --- very precarious below, move out!" Also: "If authorities need direct view from top of Trump Tower, call office."
Update: The Office of Emergency Management are asking occupants on West 57th between 6th and 7th Avenues to move to lower floors. Also, the NYPD has closed off 7th Avenue between 55th and 58th Streets.
Update 2: The FDNY is now handling this as a third alarm situation. Also, emergency responders are unable to secure the crane, because of the dangerous conditions of Hurricane Sandy. It's believed the crane is at about the 75th floor; based on renderings of the proposed building, it looks like the building is complete, so the roof is at the 90th floor.
Update 3: At a press conference, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told reporters, "I don't think we know exactly what happened at this site. My office was informed that all construction sites on Friday were told to stop work, to prepare for the storm… What exactly happened here I don't know. All the sites were told to stop work, to tie down with high storm, hurricane precautions."
Over the weekend, Mayor Bloomberg told reporters that safety inspectors had "visited every crane" and "every" construction site in NYC. But Quinn appeared to contradict the mayor, saying tonight that "spot checks were done,because you couldn't do every site. Was this site spot checked? I don't know that yet. Right now they're focused on the emergency issues. My office has obviously requested all information relevant to this site just right now they're focused on dealing with the situation."
Tagged
crane
crane collapse
hurricane sandy
midtown
one 57
west 57th street
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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