Crane dangles from apartment tower as storm approaches

Crane boom dangles in midtown New York City

Crane boom dangles in midtown New York City

OCT

29

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LIVE VIDEO — NBC's camera atop of Rockefeller Plaza shows a crane boom dangling from a high-rise construction site in midtown Manhattan.
By Patrick Rizzo, NBC News

Emergency crews were responding Monday to a crane hanging from the side of a luxury high-rise under construction in the heart of midtown Manhattan as New York began feeling the effects of approaching Hurricane Sandy.

Police have shut down traffic and evacuated the upper floors of buildings in the area around the 90-story building, One57, although there were no immediate plans to remove the crane because of the danger, WNBC reported. Officials were studying the situation and trying to decide how to deal with it.

The building, at 157 W. 57th St., has gained a reputation as a new haven for billionaires who have been paying up to $90 million for choice apartments.

The crane swayed at the top of the building as the city was largely shut down ahead of the expected arrival of the massive hurricane slamming the East Coast and affecting up to 60 million people in nine states. The storm was expected to make landfall in New Jersey Monday evening.

The Associated Press reported that New York City suspended all construction work in the city at 5 p.m. Saturday in anticipation of the storm. As of Monday afternoon, Manhattan was being lashed with winds of 20 mph with gusts double that.

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