Death toll rises on Crane Collapse. — Page 2

We have more than enough high-rises right now. Any more and the neighborhood will be as soulless and congested as the Upper East or Upper West Sides.

I prefer a building height of 4, and 6 stories in a residential neighborhood. The scale is more human.

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Addy - I'm so glad to see you 'check-in' - I've been wondering about you through all of this.

Sounds like some 'development theory' needs to be re-evaluated. It's not ALL good all the time.

I'm glad Miss Holly is boarding north of you, Addy. If she heard an "explosion-like crash" she'd be a basket case for a month. We hear of human fatalities and injuries but there must have been some animals in those buildings.

I cannot believe that there were four deaths in this crane collapse and that a 4-story brownstone was crushed into a pile of brick.

I want the safety inspectors inspected, their bank accounts looked at as closely as if they were Elliot Spitzer. The news reports that this this a "freak accident" and that the building site was declared "safe" stink.

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Updated On: 3/16/08 at 06:39 PM

Just heard on the news that there have been sixteen construction site related deaths in the twelve months prior to this incident. It wasn't clear if they meant just in NYC, but it sounded like it.

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PJ, the truly frightening thing is that the construction is the north side of 51st street, but the building that was taken down is on 50th street! That's the size of the crane atop the construction! It catapulted over the roof of buildings on the south side of 51st and struck buildings along the way, landing a full block away!

The damage is horrifying!

There have been interviews of people whose pets are still in some of the buildings. They must be absolutely terrified, in addition to being in need of aid!

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Updated On: 3/16/08 at 06:50 PM

Actress Nancy Opel lived in the gray building next to Fubar when she was first starting out.

From the article below:

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"I warned the Buildings Department on March 4 that it was not sufficiently braced against the building," said Bruce Silberblatt, a retired contractor and vice president of the Turtle Bay Neighborhood Association.

Retired ironworker Kerry Walker, who with his wife lived in the top-floor apartment of the four-story town house and left minutes before the collapse, had complained that the crane appeared dangerously unstable, his stepson said.

"He knows all about cranes and said this one had no braces, everything was too minimal," John Viscardi said. "He told one friend on the phone that 'if you don't hear from me, it's because the crane fell on my house."'...

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said Bloomberg should form a multi-agency task force to inspect major construction projects.

"It is unacceptable for the Department of Buildings to say yesterday that the 13 open violations on this construction site were ... business as usual," Stringer said. "We can't keep going on like this."

Investigators Determine Cause Of Crane Collapse

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