Around 2:30 PM yesterday, the metal scaffolding and wood planking gave way on a crane at a TF Cornerstone luxury rental site in Long Island City, Queens. The crane collapse comes after another high profile collapse at One57 during Hurricane Sandy in late October. With 7 people injured, this crane collapse puts New York Crane and Equipment Corp. in hot water. Owner James Lomma was tried and acquitted of manslaughter charges in conjunction with a crane collapse in 2008.
So what are New York's luxury rental apartment hunters to do with cranes seemingly falling out of the sky at random? Luckily between One57 and yesterday's collapse in Queens no one has been killed by these construction accidents. Regardless of where you are, construction sites are dangerous places and the same is true in dense urban environments like New York City.
Luxury apartments in Long Island City are seemingly popping up right and left with 46-15 Center Boulevard and Avalon Riverview as prime examples. With new buildings and new luxury condo rentals comes construction sites. TF Cornerstone's early 2014 finish date is likely to pushed back leaving more established buildings like Arris Lofts and East Coast 6 to fill the luxury rental market in Long Island City.
When you talk about Long Island City it's impossible not to mention about the iconic Pepsi-Cola sign looking out at Manhattan. As you can see in our photo the crane collapse happened just behind the sign around the near 46th Avenue and Center Boulevard.
