Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.network
Jul 7, 2026, 3:49 PMMore here, including video of the failed structural columns.
https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2026/07/07/david-werner-metro-lofts-pfizer-hq-at-risk-of-collapse/
Replies
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 3:59 PM
This isn't good.
"Cliff Johnson of Steamfitters Local 638, whose workers are responsible for installing fire protection within the building, charged that the developers, while seeking to add another 16 stories to the structure, had not installed enough steel supports to accommodate the extra load. "
https://www.amny.com/new-york/manhattan/evacuations-midtown-beams-buckle-skyscraper-07072026/
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 6:50 PM
I think when I get home tonight, I'll relax and cue up some Einstürzende Neubauten.
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 7:26 PM
Image stolen from the NYT. As you can see, the developer added a bunch of floors. It is unclear which floors in what building in this image are buckling. Even though the shorter building had more added to it, I think it is the taller building that had the shorter addition that is in trouble—as it seems old beams in the existing floors in the low 20s are what buckled.
Wendo 🇺🇦wendinoakland@beige.partyJul 7, 2026, 3:54 PM@ColesStreetPothole So, back in the 80s I did freelance graphics work in that building for Pfizer. :awesome: @ai6yr
AI6YR Benai6yr@m.ai6yr.orgJul 7, 2026, 4:04 PM- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 4:28 PM
@wendinoakland @ai6yr
You knew it when! (it was stable...) 
From Robin with Lovefirefly@m.ai6yr.orgJul 7, 2026, 4:30 PM@ColesStreetPothole YIKES
Jul 7, 2026, 4:45 PM@ColesStreetPothole
I sense a future episode of Well There’s Your Problem in the offing.- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 5:07 PM
@sollat "You see, that beam there is supposed to be straight...."
- Jul 7, 2026, 7:01 PM
@ColesStreetPothole
“Let’s start the podcast. First you need to know, what is a building…”It reminds me of the episode where they kept building stuff on a pier or wharf and just put rugs over the pesky holes that kept popping up.
paulamiserabilist@beige.partyJul 7, 2026, 5:20 PMskimping on costs because of tariffs.
he is turning America into a shithole country.
BashStKidBashStKid@mastodon.onlineJul 7, 2026, 6:58 PM@ColesStreetPothole That would be a new take on Strategies against Architecture …
CarolynCStamp@mastodon.socialJul 7, 2026, 7:37 PM@ColesStreetPothole I think I read that it was 21-23.
If you could tell by this image, then I'm guessing that construction was done on the cheap? This was preventable?
Edit: "Two structural support beams on the 21st floor of a 37-story under-construction building in midtown started buckling"
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 7:45 PM
@CStamp Their engineers either fucked up calculating loads and load-bearing capacity, or their construction crew skipped something or left materials out, or both! Either way, plans and workmanship are supposed to be inspected by the city, so this probably should have been caught?
- CarolynCStamp@mastodon.socialJul 7, 2026, 7:53 PM
@ColesStreetPothole This might have contributed: "“The general contractor chose to go non‑union for this project. All we want is responsible construction in the City of New York,” Johnson said. “They did not shore up the job correctly. The beams started crumbling, the floors started crumbling, and they might have to evacuate the other side.”"
https://pix11.com/news/columns-buckle-at-midtown-building-fdny/
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 8:09 PM
@CStamp Yeah I quoted him earlier. There's a lot more involved than whether they are union or not—but that does speak to the builder being more concerned about cost than quality.
- CarolynCStamp@mastodon.socialJul 7, 2026, 8:11 PM
@ColesStreetPothole Oh, sorry, didn't notice that your post was part of a thread. Those images of the buckling really are something.
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 7, 2026, 8:23 PM
@CStamp Yeah I've been trying to figure this out all day. (The company involved recently bought the building my office is located in, so I am a bit curious!)
- paulamiserabilist@beige.partyJul 7, 2026, 9:40 PM
One of their trademarks is the use of custom-built instruments, predominantly made out of scrap metal and building tools, and noises, in addition to standard musical instruments. Their early albums were unremittingly harsh, with Bargeld's vocals shouted and screamed above a din of banging and scraping metal percussion. Subsequent recordings found the group's sound growing somewhat more conventional, yet still containing many unorthodox elements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einst%C3%BCrzende_Neubauten
haha
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 8, 2026, 12:51 AM
@amiserabilist Yeah I used to play them on the radio and have some of their early albums. 😆
- paulamiserabilist@beige.partyJul 8, 2026, 1:01 AM
well, you grew up to the noises of road repairs and traffic.
- paulamiserabilist@beige.partyJul 8, 2026, 1:01 AM
you literally grew up on the streets.
- Coles Street PotholeColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.networkJul 8, 2026, 1:02 AM
@amiserabilist More like grew down....
- paulamiserabilist@beige.partyJul 8, 2026, 1:19 AM
of course, what was i thinking.
