BREAKING: Crane Collapse at One Ten 3rd

1.

So THAT'S how they were building that sucker so quickly.

2.

"Breaking" news, huh?

3.

This just happend up here in Boston (on a Suffolk dorm)project that was originally zoned for condos. Not sure if its cost cutting that is causing these freak accidents...but it needs to be stopped. One person died in Boston when the crane fell.

4.

There are so many people standing around as close as the popo are letting them. They just want the thing to fall and kill them too.

I knew that building was going up too fast.

5.

this was my concern when I saw toll brothers building here in the city - I saw the aftermath of their houses in PA - friends with entrance foyer balcony's crumbling down... I was afraid to see what would happen when they tried to build more than two stories... what happens in two years when it's the building that's falling down?

6.

I'm pretty sure Tishman Speyer is 'building' the building. What's their track record like?

7.

new england doucheticklers stay off of curbed. the site is for locals only.

8.

??? Toll Brothers is not the ones out there operating the damn crane for Christ's sake.... nor did they build the damn crane.

Machinery fails, fact of life. Blame it one the manufacturer, the operator, or God. But know this, Bob Toll was not out there wearing a hard hat and moving around hundred-ton pieces of crane...!!!

It also has nothing to do with the speed of progress. They built the Empire State building in 13 months..... what have you weenies got to say about that..... do you doubt the structural integrity of that building. No, so shut up!

9.

Yeah - the contractor is probably to blame here, not the douchebags at Toll Brothers. That isn't to say that the Bros may not be applying pressure to get this piece of garbage in the sky ASAP and perhaps that may have resulted in cutting corners safety-wise. FWIW, the Boston incident was because the contractors disassembled the crane incorrectly, leaving the portion that fell unanchored to the building.

10.

They closed Trader Joes all Friday for this???

11.

Machinery fails, fact of life...

Toll bros or whoever, should be responsible for all the taxpayer expense of fire dept, police dept, helicopters,...

12.

Things we don't know about the event:
1. that Toll Brothers is applying pressure to speed up construction more than usual. (like all residential development, speed of construction is of essence, but it's difficult to know what more they could possibly do that hasn't been done in every other development in the last twenty years).
2. that such pressure could ever be manifested as cutting corners on safety. An accident like this causes delays in construction, which is anathema to developers. It borders on ridiculous to suggest that anyone involved would say "I've got an idea! Let's cut 'safety', risk the lives of our skilled labor, and hopefully shave a few days off of construction, while risking a weeklong slowdown from a big accident". There's way too much as risk for this to be plausible.
3. that the crane operators didn't make a simple, human, mistake (does anyone remember the crane accident at the building on 6th ave, between 24th and 25th in like 2000? they had tied the crane down for a rainstorm and the next day the crane fell apart because they just didn't unsecure it)

and a correction:
"safety" isn't a material, like brick or glass, that if you simply use less of, you'll save money. it's a set of processes that are distributed among the trades, with a few building-wide ground rules.

13.

Hello,

The East Village is falling apart and has been for years. This is exactly why the neighborhood needs gentrification. Wealthier residents raise tax income and fund better infrastructure. I say, tear down those tenements!

Yours truly,

14.

OMG!!! They actually closed Trader Joes??? All day Friday??? Whatever did you do Anon #10??? Did your world fall apart??? Did you have to eat food from (gasp!!!) Associated down the street??? OH NO!!!

15.

This is only the beginning of the revenge of ST
Ann and St Brigid.