This crane is atop a 90 story residential tower under construction, the cab portion has collapsed onto itself and is dangling from the 90th story. 50 mph wind gusts on the ground multiply to 100 mph at that height.
LInk to cranecam
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Since it is impossible to do anything about the crane now, authorities are evacuating the area.
But the interesting part about this building is its designation as'The Global Billionaire's Club'.
Living at the Top
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
The tower, at 157 West 57th Street, will be New York’s tallest building with residences when completed.
One57, a 1,004-foot tower under construction in Midtown Manhattan, will soon hold the title of New York’s tallest building with residences. But without fanfare from its ultraprivate future residents, it is cementing a new title: the global billionaires’ club.
The buyers of the nine full-floor apartments near the top that have sold so far — among them two duplexes under contract for more than $90 million each — are all billionaires, Gary Barnett, the president of the Extell Development Company, the building’s developer, said this week. The other seven apartments ranged in price from $45 million to $50 million.
“The scale of wealth in this building is just unheard of,” said Jonathan J. Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a property appraiser. “Despite all the problems economically, you are seeing these people invest in real estate unlike in any period that has ever happened.”
This is the view from the top floor (when there isn't a historic storm swirling outside the window)
2:43 PM PT: From NYFM in the comments
1. One57's developer Extell is the real estate development arm of the Carlyle Group. Yes, GHW Bush's Carlyle Group- That Bush and THAT Carlyle Group. I hope they get to pay the city millions in damages here.
2. If NYC Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster can be fired for cranes collapsing as Bloomberg did to her in 2008, then he can do the same for Robert LiMandri. The reason I have any sort of bone here with LiMandri is the same reason a lot of us architects here in NYC do: Patricia was and is a licensed architect, Robert LiMandri is not. He is not even an engineer of any kind.
Oh... this kind of thing is out of the commissioner's control you say? It's an act of god? Well then why weren't those excuses good enough for Ms. Lancaster? Yeah, keep trying to explain that.
I contend, Bloomberg is a more clueless dolt than most folks realize.
2:49 PM PT:
Can’t talk now but we don’t know anything yet,” Gary Barnett, developer of One57, just told The Observer in a brief phone interview. “We’re doing everything we can, and hopefully no one is going to get hurt.”
The emergency responders are on the scene, evacuating nearby buildings. Carnegie Tower and the Metropolitan Tower, luxury condos directly across 57th Street, are of considerable concern. The city’s NotifyNYC Twitter service has directed all occupants of buildings on West 57th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue to “immediately move to the lower floors of your building” and has also advised “citizens should avoid the area.”
The city shut down construction sites on 5 p.m. and the Department of Buildings worked with developers and construction managers to secure their sites, but there is no accounting for what are reportedly 100 mile per hour gusts atop the Manhattan skyline.
NY1 reports that more than 100 firefighters are on the scene.
http://observer.com/...
So - Mayor Bloomberg can hold a press conference admonishing private citizens about their behavior and precautions we should take, but he can't tell this developer of this ultra-high-end luxury apartment building to secure his crane, prior to a historically large hurricane?
2:55 PM PT: This is a picture of the building when it was topped out with the crane visible.
4:11 PM PT: