303 East 51st Street

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name= 303 East 51st Street
year_built=


caption=
surpassed=
year_end=
plural=
location= 303 East 51st Street
New York City
status= On holdCite web|title=303 East 51st Street|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=303east51street-newyorkcity-ny-usa|publisher=Emporis.com|accessdate=2008-05-20]
use=ResidentialCite web|title=303 East 51st Street|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=59049|publisher=SkyscraperPage.com|accessdate=2008-05-20]
groundbreaking= 2007
cost=USD$ 70 million
constructed=
opening=
destroyed=
antenna_spire=504 feet (154 m)
roof=
top_floor=
floor_count= 44
floor_area=Convert|141100|sqft|m2|abbr=on|-2
elevator_count=
cost=
architect= Garrett Gourlay Architect
engineer=
contractor=
developer= Kennelly Development Company
owner=

303 East 51st Street is a skyscraper currently on-hold status in the Turtle Bay neighborhood in New York, New York. The residential building is planned to rise Convert|504|ft|m|abbr=on|0 with 44 floors. The building was under construction when on Saturday, March 15, 2008, the luffing-jib tower crane, owned by New York Crane & Equipment, used to construct the skyscraper snapped off and fell, killing seven people in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the worst construction accident in New York City in recent history.Cite web|title=Ch 07 News Crane Collapse In Midtown Manhattan New York City|url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=YtgRMdDPn5Y&feature=related|publisher=YouTube|work=ABC 7 News|date=2008-03-15|accessdate=2008-05-20]

History

The original design for the skyscraper was a 40-story building that stood 470 feet (143.3 m) tall. On December 19, 2007, during the building's construction, the developer decided to scale up the building slightly to 44 stories for 117 residential units and Convert|504|ft|m|abbr=on|0 tall. The exterior of the skyscraper will be clad in silverly glass and their will be many angled balconies extending out from the building. [Cite web|title=Design of condo tower planned at 303 East 51st Street changing|url=http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=3239748&postcount=1|publisher=CityRealty .com|accessdate=2008-05-20|date=2007-12-19]

Even before the crane accident in March, the New York Department of Buildings issued 13 safety violations for construction site and contractor, with two of those citations being serious. The Department and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the infractions were normal for a project of this scale, much to the ire of local residents. [Cite web|title=BEHIND SITE'S UNLUCKY 13 VIOLATIONS|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03172008/news/regionalnews/behind_sites_unlucky_13_violations_102324.htm|first=Brian|last=Hamacher|coauthors= Austin Fenner, Leonard Greene|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-05-20|publisher="New York Post"] Many residents reported that they were concerned over the crane's stability months before the collapse and others complained about how the crane used in the project was a menace to the neighborhood. There was even a report on March 4th that said the crane was structurally detached from the building, although that claim was discredited later in an arrest. [Cite web|title=Crane Collapse Arrest|url=http://curbed.com/archives/2008/03/20/crane_collapse_arrest.php|publisher=Curbed.com|accessdate=2008-05-21|author=Joey|date=2008-03-20]

Crane collapse

On the day of the collapse, Saturday, March 15, 2008, the skyscraper was at level 18 and the workers prepared the tower crane, at about 20 stories tall, for a jump, or a crane lift. At 2:22 pm, as workers tied a Convert|12000|lb|kg|-2|abbr=on steel collar to the top floor, designed to structurally attach the crane to the building, the temporary USD $50 nylon straps holding the collar in place snapped, causing the collar to fall.Cite web|title=How The Crane Fell|url=http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/03/17/nyregion/20080317_CRANES_GRAPHIC.html|date=2008-03-17|publisher="New York Times"|accessdate=2008-05-25] Cite web|title=Did piece of nylon cause crane collapse?|date=2008-03-19|url=http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6022288|publisher=ABC News|accessdate=2008-05-25] The heavy piece of steel slammed on top of another collar on the 9th floor, breaking the struts that tied that collar and the crane to the building. The crane became structurally unstable with its 40 ton counterweights and fell to the south as both collars, now free of their braces that held them in place, pancaked on top of the collar on the 3rd floor. [Cite web|title=Fall of Six-Ton Support Caused Crane to Topple|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/nyregion/17building.html?scp=5&sq=303+east+51st+street&st=nyt|publisher="New York Times"|first=WILLIAM|last=NEUMAN|coauthors=BAGLI, CHARLES|accessdate=2008-05-25|date=2008-03-17] The vertical tower support for the crane fell against an adjacent 19 story building, 300 East 51st Street. The impact snapped the tower support, leaving one part of the tower leaning against the building, while the rest of the crane continued to fall. Several sections of the tower support crushed a brownstone at 305 East 50th Street and its restaurant Fubar. The crane cab and boom damaged several other adjacent structures as they landed with a thundering collision. The collapse also flung a heavy steel beam about a football field (90 m), which lodged itself into a townhouse. In all, seven people died, including six workers and 24 people were injured.

References

[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/nyregion/15cnd-crane.html?em&ex=1205726400&en=006d38ddece7c8f5&ei=5087%0A] [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-crane0320,0,2199490.story] [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/nyregion/18crane.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin] [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/nyregion/17building.html?scp=5&sq=303+east+51st+street&st=nyt]

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=YtgRMdDPn5Y&feature=related News of the crane collapse] on Youtube
* [http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/03/15/nyregion/0315-CRANE_15.html Slideshow] of the collapse scene