“Mom, they shouldn’t have left that crane up there…”
On the west side of Manhattan as of 3 PM EST, the wind and rain is picking up along the river, buffeting curious pedestrians who have come out to see if anything is happening yet.
Well, things are happening. I just got a call from our seven year old storm watcher, Stormwatcher Gus. A crane on a high rise under construction near Columbus Circle has had a section break loose which is now dangling 90 stories above the street. Cops are swarming around the base of the building closing off the street. And the wind isn’t even sustained, yet.
Here’s the report and photo from Stormwatcher Gus and his mom:
Hello from Frankenstorm NYC. Stormwatcher Gus notices a lot of sirens and cop cars… We look up from his window to see this: the 95-or-so-story building under construction on 57th Street between 6th and 7th. The crane arm seems to have flipped back on itself in the wind and is dangling precariously over 57th Street.
Stormwatcher Gus will provide updates if any more exciting stories develop.
Over and out.
Along with their report came this remarkable photo:
Update: close up of crane
UPDATE: Broken Window on Vornado Building next to Lee’s Art Shop on 57th
. Unrelated to crane collapse.
That is the One57 Condo/hotel going up, which will be the tallest residential building here in the city, and the most expensive.
A lot of damage from a category 1, I’ve been through 2 or 3 category 5 cyclones here in Australia with windspeeds up to 300km/h, this one is 100 max? I guess most of the damage will be the storm surges. Intense stuff though, hope everyone stays safe.
Do they build homes there with cyclone/hurricane bolts to the ceiling to hold the roof down?
People are being evacuated from my friend’s building (which is nearby) right now….
What’s the address of the building, Lela?
157 W. 57 ST
That flaccid crane is creepy as hell.
Also, the Magic Mike ad that “popped up” under the photos for me seemed to make the crane even more shameful than it was originally…
That crane represents several tons of steel that could drop 90 stories and punch a whole through to the subway. Let’s see Magic Mike match that…