Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below
Image © Wade Zimmerman courtesy of Agence Christian de Portzamparc (ACDP)
Watch where you walk when treading near supertall towers. The WSJ reports that a stop work order has been issued at One57 after a kitchen table-sized piece of Plexiglass fell from the 22nd floor of the tower on Sunday, smashing into two parked cars down below. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident, but the accident is just one in a slew of construction mishaps that have plagued the building. In late February, glass from the tower landed on a neighboring building’s terrace, and last May, a windowpane fell from the 22nd floor, hitting a truck below. The building was also creating precarious conditions back in 2012 during Super Storm Sandy, when all of New York City looked on in horror as the support cable of an 80-ton crane at the top of the building broke, causing it dangle above their heads.
One57’s developer, Extell, told the Journal that the piece was in no way part of the building’s structure. “Glass is not falling from the building nor are windows falling from the building,” a spokesperson for Extell and its construction manager Lend Lease said. “This was a straight piece of Plexiglas, not glass related to the curved facade, which became dislodged.” The Plexiglas had been installed temporarily while contractors were waiting for specialty glass for the facade to be delivered.
Locals are of course shaken by the the incident. “We are extremely concerned with the safety of these construction sites because it seems as if there is a pattern of equipment falling from these construction sites,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, who heads the local community board’s task force about concerns that the West 57th Street towers are casting shadows on Central Park. “We have been miraculously lucky that there hasn’t been any casualties or serious injuries.”
The stop-work order will stay in place until the developer can prove that they can remove the temporary Plexi installations and replace them safely with the building’s specialty glass. Construction on the building was expected to wrap in a few months—no word yet on how the accident will delay this.
[Via WSJ]
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