crane
Earlier this evening, a crane tipped over on Carroll Street between Hoyt and Bond (a block from the Gowanus Canal), prompting five firetrucks (and one developer) to rush to the scene. A fireman told a bystander it was the result of a “construction mishap.” Hopefully some of the papers will have more details in the morning. GMAP
Earlier: A Crane Falls in Williamsburg [Brownstoner]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I believe this is a Scarano-designed job that his been shut at least once. The work has been haphazard at best, with piles of construction material and debris stewn all over Bond Street. The design, which wraps around an existing corner building to front on both Bond and Carroll, is unusual in that there are no normal windows, only slits. Who knows what Scarano has planned here?

  2. If I’m not mistaken, an engineer is supposed to specify loads and sign off on them. Crane operators are supposed to be licensed.

    Two cranes toppling in a week is a huge story. There are serious safety issues involved, and it is disturbing that nobody is making a big fuss over this.

    The unions are really falling down on the job, if you’ll pardon the expression. They should be organizing the guys on these sites, legal or not. Better men in the past sacrificed a great deal to make construction relatively safe and well-paid. Construction accidents were once a rarity in NYC, especially fatal ones. Now poor souls are dying building 2- and 3-story buildings while union workers 40 stories high make it home alive each night.

    Of course, the professionalism of blue-collar workers is almost always dismissed by those envious of the earning power collective bargaining and a serious apprenticeship system created. But there was a time…