Eyewitness: NYC Crane Collapse

Hi, my name is Michelle, and a giant white crane crashed into my apartment building this afternoon. How was your day?

As you may have heard, a crane from a midtown Manhattan construction site smashed into two neighboring apartment buildings this afternoon, killing at least four workers and stranding several others. The accident was described by Mayor Bloomberg as "one of the worst the city has had" -- an observation with which I'm prejudicially inclined to agree. Basically, at around 2:20 p.m., I was in my bedroom checking email when I heard a big CRACK outside my window, which directly faces the condominium being built on the north side of East 51st Street. To be honest, I ignored the clamor at first, because construction on the building has been, shall we say, a bit noisy to date. As in, multiple bulldozers at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning noisy. (Previous complaints by myself and my roommates seem to have fallen on deaf ears). But then I heard another loud crack. And another. Now just ticked off, I walked over to my window and looked outside, having no idea I was about to witness an accident of such magnitude.

At first, I just saw random debris -- dust, pieces of brick -- falling. Then I watched the crane that has greeted me every morning for the past couple months separate from the condo building and slowly tumble into the wall to the right of me. I was too stunned to be scared. The crane didn't exactly fall like it does in the movies. Its descent was rather slow and leisurely before its crash into our building.

The entire building shook. My roommate Emily burst into my bedroom and insisted that we leave. She tore out the front door, thinking I was right behind her. Not quite grasping what was happening, I numbly started walking over the bathroom before Em returned, asked if I was crazy, and then we bolted. Luckily, I remembered to grab my purse. Unluckily, I didn't think to grab a sweatshirt, and found myself standing on the street in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. Em was wearing a sweatshirt over shorts -- so basically, there was only one complete outfit between the two of us.

Once outside, the police -- we live a block away from both a fire station and a police station -- had already shown up and were starting to put up barricades and were forcing us down the street. Families were huddled together, and a couple girls were crying. Formerly merry St. Patrick's revelers patronizing the area's bars were shocked silent. Our doormen frantically ran around trying to evacuate everyone from the building, and it wasn't until we were several feet away from our home that we could see the white base of the crane leaning into the top of our building.

At this point, we weren't even aware that the top of the crane had crushed the townhouse behind us on 50th Street. The extent of the damage became apparent, however, as we watched the ambulances and TV crews arrive. We also caught the beginning of the stretcher parade before ducking into a restaurant so we could watch the news reports on us and get a handle on what was happening. The TV told us that the accident had been fatal. Even more concerned, we rushed back to the site, where a helpful police officer let us slip under the yellow tape back towards our building, where we learned...nothing, outside of the fact that gas fumes had now been added to the equation. Afterwards, my roommate made the error of talking to a reporter, because soon a swarm of journos and cameras began to surround her and pepper her with questions. (Message to anyone who may have seen a particularly disheveled-looking young blonde on TV: Em is normally gorgeous, but she was out until 4 a.m. this morning. End of message.) Stuck with no place to go, we eventually waded our way out of the mass of rescue workers, media, and camera phone-wielding onlookers.

Interestingly, and rather, I suppose, unsurprisingly, I ended up learning more about the accident from user-generated and submitted content than from actual human beings. Nice as they were, none of the police officers or rescue crew we spoke to could give us any answers to our questions. Nor could the staffers at the makeshift shelter set up at the School of Art and Design on East 57th Street. Yet now that I've finally found refuge at a friend's apartment, I'm catching up on the news online and noticing that much of the reporting and video-coverage is all supplied by home-made video and camera-phones, as well as streaming eye-witness accounts. Furthermore, to quickly reassure inquiring friends and family that I wasn't hurt, I updated my status on both my Facebook profile and Gchat account once things had settled down to reach more people in a shorter span of time. Technology. Ain't it grand?

At this point, I'm still waiting to hear exactly what's going on, although I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to find that information out (calls to Kibel, the company that owns our building, aren't being picked up.)The crane is also still embedded in our building, and we've been (rightly so) told that we won't be allowed back in the neighborhood until the structural soundness of our building can be verified, which may take several days. Most tragically, they haven't even reached the "recovery" stage of the operation. According to numerous news sources, people are still trapped in the rubble of the crushed building and my prayers are with them and their families.

I also urge the construction crews and companies of the city to just slow the frak down. Profits can't come at the cost of people's lives. The condo being erected across the street from my apartment is supposed to be 44-stories high, and has been going up at a frighteningly breakneck pace. In fact, the quick construction -- and its accompanying noise pollution -- have been a frequent subject of conversation between the tenants in my building for quite some time. It seems like just yesterday there was nothing in the condo's space, and now it's already half-"done". As a daily witness to the condo's growth, I can honestly say that I'd be afraid to live in a building put up so quickly -- and can only hope that the RCG Construction Group, the construction company behind the up-going condo, will take a long, hard look at its practices. According to the New York Times, Mayor Bloomberg said that "13 violations had been assessed against the construction since work began in January 2006, and he called that relatively normal for a 27-month period."

It may be "normal," but that doesn't make it acceptable.

Comments

[getalife80]

I don't know what you people think you're doing by displaying independent thought, the crane collapse is obviously Bush's fault. Get back in step.

As a resident, I am amazed by all the scaffolding all over the place. It is a miracle there are not more collapses.

[Mort]

Thanks for sharing your experience, and for being safe. I lived in New Bedford, MA years ago when it was considered the arson capitol of the world. Woke up during the night to smoke and red-glowing walls. The huge church right next door was burning to the ground. It's both shocking and awe inspiring to be so close to disaster and still have all your body parts intact. Make you grateful to be alive. And maybe more empathetic toward others.

[rroy]

The last 20 years of my working career were spent as an appraiser and claims adjuster for a large independent adjusting firm specialising in heavey equipment and machinery.
I have been involved in many crane accidents and incidents over the years,when I saw this on the news and internet it immediately caught my attention!
The initial reports were very sketchy and there were limited photos,but it began to become apparant the incident involved a climbing tower crane.
I have been involved in several tower crane incidents but never one that occured because of operator error.Every one involved the erection and/or disassembly of the crane.This situation does not appear to be an exception to that rule,beyond the fact that it was apparantly being"climbed"when the collapse occured.Climbing a tower crane is somewhat complicated and difficult to explain,other than climbers are either erected inside the structure or outside it,and with rare exceptions are supported by the structure of the crane and the building or whatever is being erected.
It is apparant from the limited information available,this incident is the result of human error on the part of whoever was in charge of operating,­erecting,a­nd climbing this crane.Sometimes this operation is in the hands of a sub contractor,
Too much of the crane's tower structure was left unsuported by the buiding it was erectng when the crane was being climbed.
Tragicay,I made my living from foolish blunders and errors of human beings,but the ones who really cleaned up were the lawyers,they're probably already beginning to salivate!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Lucky there weren't more fatalities.

The crane was inadequately braced. Lawsuits ahoy.

[WilliePilgrim]

My weekend was OK, I guess...my old dad is suffering from dementia and we have had a few issues. I'm not sure what to do with him but institutionalizing sounds very unsavory. I kinda wished a crane would crash into my apartment so that the impacts on my life could be quantified and somehow a program could help me but instead the tragedy of seeing ones parent slide away is a private one and has no quantifiable dollar value...I can't buy a new parent or get back the time I've lost attending to him 24/7 for the last few years, and I don't know what I'm gonna do with the IRS when they wonder why I haven't filed, let alone payed..Oh well, maybe when I'm in prison I'll get the dental work I've been needing...but really, in this society, it doesn't matter all that much..and I don't even life in Manhattan.

[davy]

Every construction trailer I was ever in had a sign up. "WHY IS THERE NEVER ENOUGH TIME TO DO IT RIGHT BUT ALWAYS ENOUGH TIME TO DO IT OVER".

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Right on.

[lungfish]

Thanks for sharing this story, sorry it happened to you, sorry people died and were injured, glad you and your roomie made it through ok. Nice writing, a few slips but Rachel Sklar has got yer back.

I was in San Francisco in the early 1990s (91, I think) when a construction crane came down. Killed 6 if I recall correctly. I was out on an early lunch and only about two blocks away when it happened. A section of it landed on a couple of cars as well...pretty grim scene, all told...

[Ishmael1]

HuffPost's Pick

I can definitely relate. My wife and I were in the SF quake in '89. We were only friends then and would ride the ferry in from Vallejo, hop the California St. cable car together. I would ride up to California and Kearney, get off to work at 555 Pine St. and she would ride up to Stockton St. and get off there. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, my daughter was sick so I stayed home to care for her. Consequently, I didn't go to work that day and the cable car didn't stop to let me off, making the light. Forty seconds later, a similar 60-ton construction crane fell into the intersection of California and Kearney, killing six people. Four days later we left our respective spouses and moved in together.

That was 18 years ago last November and we've never been apart since. The irony for me was that I had actually seen her on Feb. 17, 1968, crossing from Shakespreare's to Cody's Books at the intresection of Telegraph and Durant Aves. in Berkeley dressed in a black silk top hat, long black velvet cape and matching dress. That girl became the template for every other woman I would be attracted to for the rest of my life. Then to meet her 21 years later and not even know it was her until after we had already moved in together to a house on a pier over San Francisco Bay.

[lungfish]

Hey Ishmael, I used to work at Schwab just around the corner from there... remember that day day well. Also lived on Dwight and Dana and hung out at Cody's quite often... great memories, thanks for sharing...
We must have been writing about the crane collapse at the same time...

[Ishmael1]

When I first saw her, it was her mother's 51'st Birthday. I was not quite 14 and she had just turned 21. In 1989, I was working for A.T.& T. at the time. In fact, I was the guy who maintained service OUT of San Francisco in the immediate aftermath of the Loma Prieta Quake when you couldn't call across town, but you could call across country, and even God couldn't save the Giants. For that work, I received this award:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/310/award11uj1.jpg

This is the place we moved into at the mouth of the Napa river where Jack London used to hang out 100 years before.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5420/lovenest001en1.jpg

[SteveL]

Wow! Buildings are supposed to collapse into their own foundations like WTC # 7 when hit by debris, cranes and things of that nature. What happened? Seriously I hope injuries were few and far between.

[kidgonebad]

sadly, profits have always historically come before safety, especially in the world of big construction. that's how new york was built. that's what insurance coverage is for.

but glad you were safe. I'd continue the call for some accountability. lord knows the new governor is tuned into the huff po.

good luck with those unfinished emails.

[blueshift]

Get this writer an EDITOR:

"....and stranding several others in the ensuing rubble"

rubble doesn't ensue. it's an end result, not a transitional condition.

REWRITE: "....and stranding several others in the rubble of the ensuing collapse."

drives me nuts. sorry.

[GothamTomato]

After yet another construction tragedy, we deserve answers to these questions: When is there going to be a moratorium on all the over-development and too-rapid construction? When is someone going to investigate why these real estate developers are allowed to build these hulking towers in residential neighborhoods? Who are they paying off to get the zoning changes and permits? Are the construction companies cutting corners and allowing unqualified, untrained workers do the work? Who is inspecting these sites, and are they getting kickbacks to overlook dangerous conditions?

Not only are these developers destroying neighborhood after neighborhood (look at Chelsea), but it doesn't even seem to matter how many people get killed or injured: The only thing that matters is the money these greedy developers are making. The Mayor and every City Councilperson has blood on their hands for allowing this to continue.

[capitalismisntamoral]

I was watching the local TV coverage around 6pm yesterday and an older guy who
lived in the building for 33 years was giving his experience. As soon as he started
giving his opinion on the answers to these types of question, and said the word
"graft" - the station miraculously had technical difficulties and the interview
was cut off immediately. Pissed me off to no end.

Is that appropriate? One could argue that the 'news' is the eyewitness account of
what happened, and once the witness starts speculating about corruption and
fraud, it's just opinion... ?

or does the network just not want to be sued?

[Rachel Sklar - Huffpost Blogger]

That's my fault. I was the editor. Thanks for the rewrite, but I'm prepared to cut anyone grammatical slack after that kind of day. My only excuse is doing it late on a Saturday night. But sorry to drive you nuts!

[LisaP]

Nitpicking the product of a writer who is reporting on her near-death experience with a toppling crane is bitchy-mean.

[gallonjug]

considering that the qualifications for the assignment--having your building crushed by a giant crane--severely limited the applicant pool, I'd say she did an admirable job, especially under the traumatic circumstances. A little glib, perhaps, considering bodies are still being counted... but a unique perspective, nonetheless. I'd encourage the author to continue with the topic and try to track down some information for her next update: what exactly happened? why did it happen? How could it be avoided? lessons to be learned.

[plantsman]

Whoa! What an experience to go through! You must feel fortunate that something so dramatic and destructive happened and you came through it without injury. Think about playing the giant lottery the next time the jackpot gets up there.

[dolphy]

Crane crashing down on people=Precursor of what's going to happen with the stock market?

[trevor01]

My condolences for your ruined weekend. Glad you'll live to see another day, unlike those unfortunate workers.