From left: David Childs, architect of 1 WTC, and Anthony Malkin, owner of the Empire State Building

Falling debris is the biggest risk factor for glass in buildings in the event of a hurricane in New York City this weekend, according to real estate experts. While last night’s radar prediction for Hurricane Irene from the New York Times indicates that the city may not be hit full-force with a hurricane, but rather with a tropical storm, the danger from falling debris and glass is still a cause for concern.

At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to avoid glass windows. “There’s always a risk of flying debris shattering windows, and that risk increases if you’re in a high-rise, on the 10th floor or higher,” he said. [more]

While newer city buildings have been built to withstand even extremely
rare and heavy earthquakes, older buildings from the mid-20th century
might not be properly reinforced, WNYC reported. Frederick Schwartz,
who designed the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, said that while
buildings from the 1920s and 1930s with heavy masonry were probably
secure, he would be concerned about skyscrapers from the 1940s and
1950s that might need to be reexamined and reinforced for the event of
an earthquake larger than yesterday’s. Those buildings, he said, pushed
the envelope in terms of their thinness and the way their glass was constructed to withstand seismic events. [more]