You’ve heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but did you know New York has its very own leaning tower? Manhattan’s “Leaning Tower of FiDi,” developed by Fortis Property Group, has this dubious distinction: It is tilting by three inches to the north, and has been beset by numerous construction delays, disputes with lenders and more.
“It’s turned into one of those symbols of what could go wrong in a project,” The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani told The B1M, in an appearance on its new mini-documentary on the project at 161 Maiden Lane, also known as One Seaport.
How did this engineering blunder ever come to pass? “Issues first arose in 2017 when a construction worker fell to his death while working on the project, leading to a manslaughter plea by a subcontractor,” according to TRD reporting. “The following year a crane operator sent a concrete bucket smashing into the 34th floor, causing concrete to pour onto the street below.”
“Because you’re developing in such a hyper-dense environment,” Samtani said, “there are certain constraints you have that you wouldn’t have in, let’s say, Dallas, where you have a lot of land to play with. It’s all vertical engineering.”
Check out the full video from The B1M.