A construction crane atop a high-rise luxury rental development in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood on Manhattan’s far west side partially collapsed after catching fire and hitting the building across the street.
The fire, reported at 7:25 a.m. Wednesday, occurred at the engine compartment of the crane located 45 stories above the roofline at 550 10th Ave., causing the top part of the crane, the boom, and the 16-ton load to crash to the ground, New York City Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said at a news conference alongside Mayor Eric Adams and Jimmy Oddo, the Department of Buildings commissioner.
Two firefighters and four civilians, including some construction workers, suffered minor injuries, Pfeifer said, adding that over 200 firefighters and emergency medical services personnel were on the scene early Wednesday. A local CBS TV affiliate later reported 11 people were hurt.
The building across the street at 555 10th Ave. was struck before the crane collapsed, Oddo said.
The Department of Buildings will look at all parties involved as part of the crane operation, including the structural engineer, crane owner New York Crane & Equipment, general contractor Monadnock Construction, and the user, Oddo said.
“We are looking at all of their history to see what the story is,” he said.
Independent Assessment
New York Crane & Equipment was founded by James Lomma, a self-proclaimed “King of Cranes” whose machines were involved in two deadly incidents more than a decade ago, according to the New York Post. New York Crane & Equipment didn’t immediately respond to a CoStar News request to comment. Lomma died in 2019, the Post reported.
There was a prior unrelated incident early at the development site with the contractor when they were doing excavation and hit a ConEd vault, Oddo said.
There’ll also be an independent assessment, similar to the one the city did after the collapse of a parking garage on Ann Street in lower Manhattan earlier this year, he said.
The 550 10th building under construction is expected to consist of up to 453 mixed-income residential homes, according to the website of the property’s developer, the Gotham Organization. The 47-story, mixed-use tower with inclusionary housing is slated to include over 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space, as well as neighborhood retail on the ground floor. The building, designed by Handel Architects, is planned to be completed next year, Gotham said on its website.
A Gotham spokesperson, reached by CoStar News, referred comments to an attorney for Monadnock, the general contractor.
Monadnock, in an emailed statement to CoStar News, said the company is “fully cooperating with all regulatory agencies” and declined to provide any additional details.
RXR Realty and Extell Development, which CoStar data shows co-owns the 56-story 555 10th that was hit by the crane, didn’t immediately respond to CoStar News.