Construction Accidents & Safety Violations Halt 432 Park Avenue

Construction has paused at the rapidly-rising 432 Park Avenue after an accident damaged a neighboring building, resulting in a stop-work order. 432 Park’s page on the Department of Buildings website indicates there were five safety violations found at the site on February 21st, explaining the lack of workers on the webcams in recent days. 
The project has certainly risen quickly, and perhaps the speed of construction is partially to blame for the accident. According to the safety violation, the damage occurred as 432 Park’s cocoon safety-netting system was raised, striking the parapet of 48 East 57th Street in the process. Coincidentally 48 East 57th’s owner is Jacobs & Co., which was the sole holdout against 432 Park’s developer CIM when it was acquiring land for the tower. 
Safety violations are quite common in New York, though stop-work orders are more infrequent. 432 Park’s $1.25 billion price-tag means the ongoing pause must be very costly. Hopefully the delay’s inconvenience will prompt CIM to review their safety standards for the site, as recent major accidents at One57, 303 East 51st Street, and TF Cornerstone’s East Coast Long Island City have all been preventable. 
432 Park’s webcams look grainy this morning due to the horrible weather, but the tower was shut down shortly after the last update on the site, from two weeks ago. Obviously the minimal progress that has been made since came before the stop-work order.

*Update*: as of this afternoon, the stop-work order has been officially rescinded, and the project will now continue rising.

432 Park Avenue Construction
The stalled site this morning: From the 432 Park Webcams

Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail

Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews

.