« If Building 1 ever goes up, for three years the arena entrance would move (in part) to Sixth Avenue, far from transit hub; was impact studied? | Main | Perkins to host workshop Saturday to discuss eminent domain reforms »
February 12, 2010
Forest City Ratner Addresses Debris Scare at Beekman Tower
The Tribeca Trib
by Matt Dunning
Weeks after pieces of debris blown from the 77-story Beekman Tower, under construction at 8 Spruce Street, brought much of Lower Manhattan to a standstill, developer Forest City Ratner promised new steps to prevent a repeat of the dangerous incident.
On Jan. 25, wind gusts approaching 100 miles an hour blew several small pieces of wood and metal from the upper floors of the Frank Gehry-designed, tower, forcing police to close several blocks near the tower for most of the day, including eastbound access to the nearby Brooklyn Bridge, crippling pedestrian and vehicular traffic Downtown.
Earlier this week, Forest City Ratner Senior Vice President Joseph Rechichi said the company has installed new rigging for the orange safety nets surrounding the outer edges of the building’s unfinished floors, as well as reinforced tie-downs for the plywood hole covers throughout the tower.
...“The nets were shredded in place, you could see them dangling all the way up the building,” said Boris Faiguenbaum, a construction superintendent for Kreisler Borg and Florman, Ratner’s general contractor on the project.
NoLandGrab: In an ironic twist, Ratner's other Nets get shredded every night in the Izod Center, too — most recently by Milwaukee, 97-77.
Related...
Downtown Express, Ratner promises better safety on Gehry tower
Two weeks after metal and plywood rained down from the 76-story Beekman Tower, the project’s managers promised concerned residents that the building was now safe.
“We are confident this will not happen again,” said Joe Rechichi, a senior vice president with developer Forest City Ratner.
...“Some people don’t like the height,” C.B. 1 District Manager Noah Pfefferblit said Tuesday night, “but that’s another issue.”
NLG: Gehry-designed buildings typically begin failing after, not during, construction.
Posted by eric at February 12, 2010 7:20 AM