A crane snapped apart and toppled onto a high-rise apartment building on East 91st Street on the Upper East Side on Friday morning, killing two construction workers, in a cascade of broken brick and shattered glass that echoed a similar crane collapse in Manhattan just two months ago. The city did not immediately know the cause of the collapse, which occurred moments after 8 a.m. at a construction site at the corner of 91st Street and First Avenue.
Witnesses said the horizontal arm of the crane began to circle and then snapped off, propelling the cab and the upper portion of the arm onto a white-brick residential building across the street.
The cab smashed into the top floor of the building, demolishing a portion of a 22nd-story penthouse, then plunged down the north facade, knocking off balconies and leaving a trail of pockmarks down to a Duane Reade drug store on the street level.
The operator of the crane, Donald Leo of Staten Island, was sitting in the cab as the structure fell. He was pulled from the wreckage by rescue workers and pronounced dead at the scene.
Two Killed in Manhattan Crane Collapse
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a previously scheduled on-air interview on WOR-AM this morning, said, “We’re not going to tolerate any rate of accidents any higher than it has to be.”
(WTF does that mean?)
More from the NY Times: Latest Updates on Fatal Crane Collapse
Gothamist has comprehensive coverage.
11 comments:
The public really needs to put pressure on the mayor to SLOW DOWN construction around the city.
I place the blame squarely on the mayor for this.
million dollar 1 bedrooms to die for
this real estate collapse cannot happen fast enough
I know its a leap here, but does anyone else think that terrorists or other such nuts have infiltrated our construction companies causing these accidents?
The Killer Commissar at work again!
He believes that NYC is the new Soviet and he's the new "Dear Leader".
He believes we all must be ready to die so he and developers can be profitable.
How's about that Crowley and Como?
Bloomie: "We’re not going to tolerate any rate of accidents any higher than it has to be."
Translation: "Yeah, sure, a few people are gonna get killed here and there. But hey, that's just the price we have to pay for progress. Just as long we make sure we keep those numbers at an "acceptable" level."
(I'm sure it will be very comforting to the people killed and injured, to their co-workers and families, and to everyone placed at risk, that the mayor is putting his foot down will only tolerate those casualties that are absolutely necessary.)
#1 why, did Bloomie sabotage the crane? That's the only way the blame is squarely his.
" Anonymous said...
#1 why, did Bloomie sabotage the crane? That's the only way the blame is squarely his."
The Commissar is the boss. He has failed miserably to manage the agencies he controls.
He finds a certain number of deaths and injuries acceptable for the sake of progress and profits.
So he lets DOB fail in its job: to assure safety to workers and passersby.
This Soviet pig is interested in the profitability of his own developmet company and the developers who kiss his ass (pay him off).
As for the rest of us: We can go shit in our hats.
Well, it's time for the Dear Leader to go.
Save for the greiving families of the dead, the injured and newly homeless residents - Mr. Mayor you got what you reap. It's about time Manhattan got it's fair share of running roughshod of it's residents - giving them a taste of what Queens has been experiencing - the sellout of our communities to developers.
Thanks taxpayer.
Anon #1
Don Corleone....
can you arrange for one of your union boys to arrange a little crane "accident"on Mayor Midget's block?
I kiss your hand Don Vito.
Me and my family are in your debt.
Forget about bringing in the cops Mike...I'm only kidding!
Just a touch of political satire.
terrorists or other such nuts have infiltrated our construction companies causing these accidents?
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No, this is the result of hiring non-union illegal immigrant labor with inadequate training. Stuff like this happens in third world countries all the time.
Yet another example of the debt we own the machine for their lock step march to NYC2030.
Next question.
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