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January 25, 2010
High Winds Bring Debris Down from Beekman Tower
The Tribeca Trib
by Matt Dunning
A large swath of Lower Manhattan remained closed to cars and pedestrians Monday evening following reports of debris falling from the Frank Gehry-designed Beekman Tower at 8 Spruce Street.
Sustained winds of up to 45 mph and gusts approaching 100 mph began blowing small pieces of wood and metal from the upper floors of Forest City Ratner’s unfinished 77-story tower around 8 a.m. this morning, according to Joseph Bruno, Commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management. The morning-long wind and rainstorm carried debris as far as 700 feet from the tower into City Hall Park, according to Bruno.
“It’s been an unusual event, but one that I think we’ve handled quite well,” Bruno said at a press conference this afternoon.
No injuries were reported as of 5 p.m. Department of Buildings investigators have stopped all work on the tower, city Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said, but have not been able to complete an inspection of the building because of high winds.
“This is a dangerous thing that happened today,” LiMandri said. The Buildings Department had issued a wind advisory on Sunday, warning contractors all over the city to secure their sites in advance of this morning’s storm. LiMandri said investigators have not yet determined whether Kreisler Borg Florman, the general contractor on the Beekman Tower, had heeded the warning. On the upper levels of the tower, orange safety netting dangled in tatters over the edges of concrete floors.
“Today we were lucky,” LiMandri said, “and I’m telling you that contractors need to make sure that when they see a wind advisory, they need to watch the weather alerts, get out there and secure their sites. I don’t care how big or small your site is.”
Calls to Forest City Ratner and Kreisler Borg Florman were not returned as of Monday evening.
“One thing’s for sure, they’re not going back to work tomorrow,” LiMandri said.
The dangerous condition crippled pedestrian and vehicular traffic Downtown. With the outbound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge effectively shut down, traffic was snarled at virtually every major intersection in the northeast section of Lower Manhattan.
NoLandGrab: Should efforts to stop Atlantic Yards fail, Prospect Heights and Fort Greene residents might want to invest in hard hats.
Additional coverage...
WNYC News Blog, Stormy Weather Forces Downtown Street Closure
Streets near City Hall are closed this afternoon as the Office of Emergency Management works to secure a construction site at 8 Spruce Street. Powerful winds knocked debris from the 72-story building early this morning. Officials with the Department of Buildings are investigating to make sure construction materials are tied down. The Office of Emergency Management advises people in the area to stay indoors. The area around Gold Street, Ann Street, and Park Row is closed to vehicles and pedestrians. Pace University canceled daytime classes, but evening classes are on. There are no reported injuries.
Posted by eric at January 25, 2010 8:00 PM