The USA is mostly empty space. Trying to force upwards in such an already dense area just doesn't make sense. We are not constrained the way singapore is.
Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
11–20 of 35 posts
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#12[deleted]
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#13NYT updates (non-paywall) https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/07/nyregion/pfizer-buil...
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#14Does anyone here have any knowledge of how something like this gets resolved?
Tie every helicopter you can find to the roof, gas the bent bit off, haul it away and drop it somewhere? They'll likely shore it up with hydraulic props - probably going through the floor and ceiling to floor slabs above and below - to stabilise it, and then start demolishing the building bit by bit.
When you run the mental model of picking up a building with a bunch of surplus Hueys, do they not all collide together once they start bearing weight?
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tie every helicopter you can find to the roof, gas the bent bit off, haul it away and drop it somewhere? They'll likely shore it up with hydraulic props - probably going through the floor and ceiling to floor slabs above and below - to stabilise it, and then start demolishing the building bit by bit.
When you run the mental model of picking up a building with a bunch of surplus Hueys, do they not all collide together once they start bearing weight?
Not if you make the strings different lengths.
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#16They're adding a hunch of floors to an existing building - it was the old Pfizer headquarters and they want to turn it into apartments. Someone either didn't do the proper engineering study, or the original specs weren't accurate.
Figuring out who to blame will probably take years in court.
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#17Having seen the photos, I simply can't imagine how can they recover from that.
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#18The USA is mostly empty space. Trying to force upwards in such an already dense area just doesn't make sense. We are not constrained the way singapore is.
Spreading out requires more non-foot travel to get places. Density means things can be closer.
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#19I wonder if Metroloft cut corners on structural engineering practices given that they also exploit non-union workers.
Re: Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you run the mental model of picking up a building with a bunch of surplus Hueys, do they not all collide together once they start bearing weight?
Not if you make the strings different lengths.
In that case the helicopters lower in the pecking order will chop off the strings for the higher ones. I thing seagulls is a better idea, if it worked for a giant peach it should work for a building. Plenty of those around and they'll work for peanuts.