Halcyon

305 East 51st Street | Turtle Bay | built 2015

Open on the map7 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 2007

    December 19

    The developer enlarges the tower plan from 40 stories to 44

    On December 19, 2007, with construction already under way, the developer of 303 East 51st Street decided to make the tower bigger. The original design called for 40 stories and 470 feet. The revised plan reached 44 stories and 504 feet, with 117 residential units. Only a few months later a crane collapsed at the site and construction was halted.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 2008

    The site has 13 open violations when the crane falls, and officials call that normal

    Buildings Department records showed 13 open violations at 303 East 51st Street at the time of the collapse. All but two were rated high severity, among them excessive debris, unsafe storage of materials and inadequate roof protection, and masonry and lumber left on the seventh and eighth floors blocked exits. Mayor Bloomberg said the violations had nothing to do with the accident and were typical of large sites. Borough President Scott Stringer called that attitude unacceptable.

    Source: Internet Archive

  3. 2008

    A Buildings Department inspector is charged with faking a crane inspection report

    Days after the collapse, city records seemed to show that the crane at 303 East 51st Street had been inspected on March 4, after a complaint to 311. Officials then said the inspector had lied about it, and he was charged with falsifying a report. Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster said a real inspection that day would not have stopped the accident, because the crane stood in a very different position when it failed, and that all of his work would be reinspected.

    Source: Internet Archive

  4. 2008

    The city starts inspecting all 253 crane sites after the collapse

    In the days after the March 2008 collapse, the Buildings Department began inspecting crane sites across the city, 253 in all. Inspectors had visited the East 51st Street site that Saturday morning because of high winds and ordered concrete work stopped, finding no problems with the crane. Commissioner Patricia Lancaster faced sharp criticism over the agency's enforcement, and the City Council scheduled a hearing on crane operations for April 29.

    Source: Internet Archive

  5. 2008

    September

    A federal report faults how the crane's steel collar was rigged

    The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its report on the March 15 collapse at 303 East 51st Street in September 2008. It found that workers had choked polyester slings around the legs of the crane mast to hold a steel collar, which cut the slings' capacity, and that each half of the collar hung from two points instead of the four the manufacturer recommended. The slings were not protected from sharp edges, and one was so deteriorated that it should have been discarded.

    Source: osha.gov

  6. 2008

    March 15

    A tower crane collapses on the construction site, killing seven

    On March 15, 2008, a Favco tower crane collapsed at the construction site, killing seven people and injuring 24. The OSHA investigation found that workers lifting a stabilizing collar used only half the number of slings the manufacturer recommended. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it the worst construction accident in the city's recent history.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 2015

    The Halcyon, a 32-story residential tower, is completed after the halted project

    Construction at the site, halted by the 2008 crane collapse, was completed in 2015. The finished building, known as the Halcyon, has 32 floors rather than the 44 planned before the accident, and its street address is 305 East 51st Street. It rises 360 feet to the tip of its antenna spire, at a cost of about $70 million.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 32 buildings with stories in Turtle Bay