Silver Towers - 600 West 42nd Street - Rental

[GreenwichBoy]

Great shots thanks!

[Antares41]

North Tower topped out. South Tower to be finished within the next 2 weeks. Here are some shots I took while on the 60th floor.

Approximately how tall is the North Tower? It looks to be in excess of 100ft taller than the Atelier.

[NYC4Life]

The views from the West Side are breathtaking.

[scumonkey]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/billboarded.jpg

[antinimby]

This is one building that looks better from afar. Closeup, one sees too many cheap details.

[Skylimitone]

Great views, for now at least.

[philvia]

http://www.joewoolhead.blogspot.com/
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__LTbulstB24/SKXJcHFSp2I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/OW8NBsDv2B8/s1600/4J9Z0667.JPG

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/2760025414_debf16e5cc_b.jpg
pmarella (http://flickr.com/photos/pmarella/)

[NewYorkDoc]

The water looks amazing in that picture.

[NYC4Life]

Beautiful homes along the Hudson. BTW these towers look even taller from Jersey.

[scumonkey]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/2sites.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/benz.jpg

[antinimby]

I would have preferred a Koolhaas or a Herzog & de Meuron in that highly visible spot instead of a Kondylis. :(

[TREPYE]

Come on Larry, dont be so cheap.

Tack on a couple of spires!

[BrooklynLove]

I can actually peep these pappies from South Brooklyn.

[NYC4Life]

By: A Tibetan - Flickr

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2819268366_b684b1749c_b.jpg

[lofter1]

One Worker Is Dead in West Side Accident

NY TIMES / City Blog (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/one-worker-is-dead-in-west-side-accident/?hp)
By Sewell Chan
September 4, 2008

A worker fell 48 stories to his death — about 500 feet — at 9:29 a.m. Thursday from a movable walkway at a construction site at West 41st Street and 11th Avenue, on the Far West Side of Manhattan, according to city officials.

Although officials had first looked into the possibility that the worker, identified by the authorities as Anthony Esposito, may have been involved with the operation of a construction crane at the site, officials soon determined that the crane was not involved in the accident. “The tower is structurally sound,” said Kate Lindquist, a spokeswoman for the city’s Buildings Department.

The authorities said the accident occurred in a rear courtyard at 600 West 42nd Street, where the developer Larry A. Silverstein is building the Silver Towers, a 1,350-unit residential building that was scheduled to open next year.

Deputy Chief Anthony DeVita, a Fire Department commander who responded to the scene of the accident, said that the worker lost his footing on the walkway, which was attached to scaffolding about 48 floors up, while a crane was being moved, but that the accident was unrelated to the movement of the crane.

“There is no structural problem with the crane or the tower,” Chief DeVita said.

A Police Department spokeswoman that the worker had been near a net next to a crane when he fell. One firefighter at the scene said that the worker may have been wearing a harness, but that the harness may not have been attached.

The general contractor at the site was Gotham Construction, and the concrete subcontractor was DiFama Concrete, according to city records. It was unclear whether the worker who fell to his death worked for DiFama, Gotham or another company.

A worker for DiFama died in January when he fell 42 stories from the top of Trump SoHo, a condominium hotel under construction at Varick and Spring Streets in Manhattan. DiFama has a history of safety violations at projects in Manhattan and has been fined tens of thousands of dollars in penalties, according to federal records.

In November 2004, another DiFama employee died when he fell 60 feet from a platform on the mast of a construction crane at what is now the Lumiere, a seven-story condominium on 53rd Street, west of Eighth Avenue.

After the 2004 accident, inspectors for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited DiFama for failing to provide sufficient safety devices designed to prevent falls from the crane and fined the company $3,500. The city’s Buildings Department, however, determined that the ‘’accident was caused by human error.'’

The city’s Police, Fire and Buildings Departments raced to the scene of today’s accident, as did representatives of the city’s Office of Emergency Management. Today’s accident would appear to be the latest in a series of construction accidents that have cast a cloud over the Bloomberg administration and prompted numerous calls for reform. Within the last seven months, two construction cranes collapsed in Manhattan, killing nine people. Since then, the city’s buildings commissioner was ousted and replaced, and numerous safety reforms were passed into law.

The accident today occurred at a large construction site that encompasses most or all of the block bounded by West 41st and 42nd Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues. The site is controlled by Mr. Silverstein, who still partially controls some of the land at the World Trade Center site.

At the site of today’s accident, Mr. Silverstein’s development company, Silverstein Properties has built One River Place, a 921-unit luxury rental apartment building with 40,000 square feet of retail shops, and is planning the Silver Towers, the site of today’s accident.

Charles V. Bagli, Al Baker, David W. Dunlap and William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[NYC4Life]

Very sad to see yet another worker dead on the job :(

[scumonkey]

...the worker may have been wearing a harness, but that the harness may not have been attached.
Not meaning to sound cold or anything BUT....
I can't tell you how many times I've seen workers just wearing their safety harness and NOT attaching it.
It is required by law for a reason!
If this is indeed was the case, i'm sad to say this would not have happened.

[lofter1]

Mods: Perhaps this thread should be re-titled to include the official name of the development:

Silver Towers

[lofter1]

City Suspends Rigger’s License
After Fatal Fall From Crane

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/nyregion/06crane.html?ref=nyregion)
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
September 6, 2008

City officials late Friday suspended the license of the master rigger who was overseeing the dismantling of a tower crane on West 42nd Street on Thursday when a man working to lower it plunged 40 stories to his death.

An investigation found that the master rigger, Gene J. Altobelli, 56, failed to supervise the operation and that unsafe conditions existed at the site, where two residential towers overlooking the Hudson River are being built, city officials said.

Investigators determined that the worker’s safety harness was not secured and that a safety railing was missing from the platform where he was working, according to a statement from the Department of Buildings and the Department of Investigation.

Mr. Altobelli told investigators that he was not on the crane when the accident occurred about 9:30 a.m., but was taking a break in a street-level shed on the construction site, according to administrative charges that were filed against him on Friday in conjunction with the license suspension.

“The investigation revealed inattention to basic safety precautions,” said Rose Gill Hearn, the investigation commissioner. “It’s outrageous that in the face of well-publicized tragedies, an individual would be charged with permitting blatant safety violations on a construction site, 40 floors above the ground.”

Mr. Altobelli said Friday night that he had not been notified of the suspension and had not seen the charges, and therefore would not comment.

The accident, which occurred at Silver Towers on the River, a 58-story residential project at 600 West 42nd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues, was the third fatal crane accident in the city in six months. The two others, which left nine people dead — as well as the fatal Deutsche Bank fire in 2007 and a series of other fatal accidents and construction accidents — have brought intense scrutiny to the Bloomberg administration and the Buildings Department.

Since the two earlier crane accidents, the city has adopted a variety of measures to increase the scrutiny of tower crane operations.

A criminal inquiry has resulted, so far, in the arrest of two Department of Buildings crane inspectors, one on charges of taking bribes to ensure that the cranes of one company passed inspection and that its workers were granted lower-level crane licenses.

Still under scrutiny by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau and city investigators is the crane company that prosecutors believe paid the bribes, people briefed on the matter have said.

That company, identified by those people as Nu-Way Crane Service, at one time employed Mr. Altobelli, but a person briefed on that inquiry said he had not been implicated.

The man who died Thursday, Anthony Esposito, 48, was working on a platform attached to the crane at the 40th floor when he apparently lost his footing.

The charges, which will be adjudicated by the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, accuse Mr. Altobelli of “negligence and incompetence,” engaging in acts that endangered the public and failing to cooperate with investigators.

The city building code requires that a master rigger supervise the erection or dismantling of a tower crane.

The rigging company handling the job for DiFama Concrete, which rented and operated the crane at the site, was Tower Rigging.

None of the principals of Tower have a master rigger’s license, and the company was working under Mr. Altobelli’s license, which officials said was not improper.

If he is found guilty of the administrative charges, Mr. Altobelli could lose his license and be fined up to $25,000.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[midtownboy767]

Does anyone know when any information on applying for these units will be available or an idea of how much the maximum income would be ?

[econ_tim]

from skyscraper city

Look at the view!

http://flickr.com/photos/30269299@N0...7607273412476/ (http://flickr.com/photos/30269299@N03/sets/72157607273412476/)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2851466815_1e9af65c32_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2852305492_165463c5ae_b.jpg

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These apartments will have great views of hudson yards construction. Someone should move in so they can give us updates in 5 years. ;)

[lofter1]

I love it when people sneak into construction sites in the middle of the night http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Skylimitone]

^ HA you can tell it was late too, early morning almost.

[antinimby]

Two Crane Workers Charged With Cutting Guardrail Before Co-Worker Fell to His Death



By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: September 24, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/nyregion/24crane.html)

City officials filed administrative charges on Tuesday against two brothers who were helping to dismantle a tower crane on West 42nd Street when a co-worker — the brother-in-law of one of the men — fell to his death. The city said it had also suspended their crane licenses.

The two men, James Van Duyne, 52, and Christopher Van Duyne, 47, were accused of compromising the safety of the operation by cutting the safety guardrail on a work platform attached to the tower crane, 40 floors above the street. Cutting the guardrail, according to the charges filed with the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings by the Buildings Department compromised the rigging and structural integrity of the platform from which the worker, Anthony Esposito, later fell to his death. Mr. Esposito’s safety harness was not secured.

Mr. Esposito’s brother, Michael Esposito, was also part of the eight-member team working to dismantle the crane for the high-rise concrete contractor, DFC Structures, which was building the twin 58-story residential towers at 600 West 42nd Street. But the charges did not raise any questions about his conduct.

Building officials and the city Department of Investigation said in a news release that the men had endangered public safety and violated the city’s construction codes.

Joseph D. McCann, a lawyer for James Van Duyne, said the license suspensions were “based on a tragic accident that was not caused by them and had no connection with the operation of a crane.” Mr. McCann added: “To think that Jim and/or Chris would put themselves and their family in danger — including their brother-in-law — is absurd.” The men began working at ground zero the day after 9/11, Mr. McCann said, and had helped city officials secure cranes after other accidents.

A lawyer for Christopher Van Duyne did not return a call or an e-mail message seeking comment.

The charges and license suspensions on Tuesday, based on an investigation by the Buildings Department and the Department of Investigation, was the second city action stemming from the accident, on Sept. 4. The day after Mr. Esposito fell, administrative charges were filed against the licensed rigger on the job, Gene J. Altobelli, and his tower-crane rigging license was suspended.

The accident was the most recent of three fatal mishaps involving tower cranes in the city in the last six months, which have brought intense scrutiny to crane operations and plunged the construction industry into turmoil. It has also focused attention on the Buildings Department’s weak oversight and led to the arrests of two crane inspectors on corruption charges.

“Despite months and months of public pleas for construction safety, our investigators found glaring violations at a high-rise work site where a construction worker fell to his death,” Rose Gill Hearn, the Department of Investigation commissioner, said.

Robert LiMandri, the buildings commissioner-designate, said that the removal of the safety railing played a critical role in causing the accident, noting, “It was a shortcut gone terribly wrong that compromised rigging operations and put the lives of fellow workers in jeopardy.”

The charges against each man included four violations of city construction codes, all stemming from the removal of the guardrail. If they are substantiated at a hearing, the buildings commissioner can impose fines of up to $25,000 for each violation by each man and revoke their licenses.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

I don't understand why they would CUT a safety guardrail.

[Antares41]

I think I'll take an aptment with a view of the Hudson (along with a view of the sunbathing deck of the Atelier:D)

[antinimby]

I don't understand why they would CUT a safety guardrail.It's called sabotage. They wanted the guy dead. Sadly, their evil motives worked out just as they planned.

They should throw those two brother-in-laws in jail for murder.

[lofter1]

Remind me if I'm ever in the position to need a jury that I make sure you're excused from service :cool:

While sabotage and "get him" would be one possibility it also seems, from what is stated in the news article, that cutting the rail allowed for some sort of short-cut for access between rigging and crane that might make the job go easier while the crane was being dismantled. In order to buy the sabotage argument it seems that the deceased's safety cable / harness would also need to have been compromised -- but it could be that the poor fellow simply didn't hook it up and slipped or stumbled.

On the other hand: It could be that as the unlucky guy was stepping onto the rigging and preparing to harness himself in (but before he was securely fastened) someone bumped him up against that compromised guard rail ...

[NYC4Life]

By: pmarella (http://[URL]http://flickr.com/photos/pmarella/) - Flickr

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/2883866406_53dbb37248_o.jpg
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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2883495982_8b428e9d30_o.jpg

[Derek2k3]

If only the two towers were stacked on top of each other.
Amazingly that would still be less than the height of the Freedom Tower.

[NYC4Life]

By: jwalas - Skyscrapercity

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa155/jwalas/P1000067.jpg?t=1224106601

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2939801750_30a84d1f22_o.jpg
vtsnapshot (http://flickr.com/photos/vtsnapshot/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/2869026349_583cb6cd7b_b.jpg
Tony Shi, NY-NJ (http://flickr.com/photos/tonyshi/2869026349/sizes/l/in/set-72157606319933770/)

ESB is one building boom from disappearing.