Thursday, April 30, 2009

'Maybe it just collapsed on its own'... apparently in this case it did

I don't know if it made the news outside of the city or not (a lot of times it's hard to tell) but a building just up and collapsed this morning in lower Manhattan. It just so happens it was about a block from my office.

In fact, the dozens of fire trucks, police cars and mobile command units that were in the area were between my subway stop and the office on the way to work... and of course were all kinds of in the way, hehe. They had vehicles lining the nearby streets for blocks. Later in the day when I left work, they still had blocked off both the street the building was on and the one behind it to all cars and people.

I'm going to assume a lot of people weren't exactly stunned, since the building was on the same block as the locally famous "Leaning Tower of Broadway," probably less than a couple hundred feet away.
From Flickr (the photostream has some cool shots of the new Mets stadium to boot)

Basically, a while ago they demolished the building next to the "Leaning Tower" and it started easing over (to the South) and they had to put up supports to keep it from falling over. That really builds confidence in the nearby buildings that are of a similar ilk, right? I guess they're worried about the same thing happening near where the other building collapsed and some are reporting that they may have to demolish some of the buildings that were next to the collapsed building for just that reason. Keep in mind a lot of the buildings in the area are designated "historic landmarks," including the one that fell, so that should be interesting...

What's a bummer is there was a pizza place in there that had just opened when the building started leaning over and was condemned... their "Grand Opening" sign is still in the window on the side. That really must have sucked for them...

Who knows, maybe the 59th Street Bridge (also known as the Queensboro Bridge I think) over by the UN building will be next...


  • Hank Scorpio: Good afternoon, gentlemen. This is Scorpio. I have the doomsday device. You have 72 hours to deliver the gold. Or you face the consequences. And to prove I'm not bluffing, watch this... (explosion in the background)
  • UN member #1: Oh, my God! The 59th Street Bridge!
  • UN member #2: Maybe it just collapsed on its own.
  • UN member #1: We can't take that chance.
  • UN member #2: You always say that. I want to take a chance!
  • Hank Scorpio: Collapsed on its own? You sh... You have 72 hours. See ya.

3 comments:

SR said...

seems like the government would invest to preserve historical buildings! guess NOT.

Yasirali said...

Most buildings love their environment the way we do. They are attached to the landscape and the neighborhood in a visual and aesthetic bond. Floods and tornadoes can cause irreparable damage to buildings and in extreme cases the entire structure may perish. So, it's a good idea for residents of hazard prone areas to move their houses to a new location that is safe and secure from floods and tornadoes.

http://www.wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/

Unknown said...

Is you for real, bakar?