Buildings commissioner says city will hire outside expert to assess Hell's Kitchen crane collapse
NEW YORK -- We've learned the city plans on hiring an outside firm to examine Wednesday's crane collapse in Hell's Kitchen and any changes that should be made to keep New Yorkers safe.
Contractors now plan to remove what's left of the crane at the construction site, and to do that, they'll need to bring in another massive crane.
Construction crews were back to work on the lower levels of the building Friday, but to the folks who either live or commute to jobs near 40th Street and 10th Avenue, that work isn't the most welcome sight.
"I mean, I feel uneasy right now," Hell's Kitchen resident Malia Makaila said.
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Some of them aren't looking forward to a new crane moving in.
"I mean, cranes don't seem like the best idea over here," Makaila said.
"You don't have to rush, rush, rush. You gotta make sure the building is safe first," said Brian Rose, who works in Hell's Kitchen.
But at a news conference Friday, buildings commissioner James Oddo said the building is stable and safety is a top priority.
"You can rest assured that we will be looking at those plans that the contractor submits to us before that crane is put place," he said.
Oddo also revealed that the city plans to hire an outside expert on cranes, a firm to assess what happened Wednesday.
"To see what lessons can be learned and what changes we might wanna implement," he said.
The city is still investigating the cause of the fire, but sources tell CBS New York it may have started from a hydraulic fluid leak.
Back in 2012, a similar crane fire and collapse happened in Sydney, Australia. Investigators said that fire may have been fueled by hydraulic fluid.
A safety report from the New South Wales government later recommended construction crews considering using cameras or fire detection systems to quickly alert them if a fire starts on a crane.
"We're aware of the Australia situation, so we hope to have that entity on really quickly and we'll see what kind of feedback we get from them, and if they have strong, viable suggestions, we certainly will listen," Oddo said.
In Hell's Kitchen and beyond, New Yorkers hope those suggestions will prevent this from ever happening again.