As someone who works for one of NYCs largest general contractors, it makes me laugh when these developers think they can cheap out when building A SKYSCRAPER… there are many many shady contractors out there who survive purely off of low balling bids. Never, ever, ever, cheap out. Something will eventually happen and you’re going to wish you went with the reputable company rather than the cheap one.
at the same time, the customer should understand good work isn't cheap. if they accept the lowest bid, its equally on them. i do high voltage work at an Intel plant, and even the "reputable" union companies cheap out, break protocol, and are a year behind schedule like everyone else. from my limited 23 years of life, only difference i've seen between good and bad companies on a site are pay and how good your benefits are. yall still fuckin over the laborers, while yall put on a hard hat after sitting in your office, actin like youre hands aren't clean when you go home (maybe not you specifically depending on your position). idgaf what anyone says, PMs should not be making more than fools with 10+ years of experience still in the field.
I’ll never stop being confused at developers trying to cut corners on ultra-expensive, luxury homes. Who wants to pay millions of dollars for subpar results?
The developers and contractors cut corners because they don't just want to make a good profit. They want to make millions. They'll find an engineer who will swear that a shortcut is perfectly safe and they'll do it. I wouldn't be so sure that chemically treating the soil to make it strong enough to support the building is a long-term fix.
@@Realwaltersobchakyou're saying 80% of buildings are done the way that they did this tower? It just didn't work out because the Tower is so tall or whatever? To me, it seems like if there's any question, you look at the more expensive option as disaster insurance. How much worse can the cost be to do it right, when compared to the overall cost of such a huge project, and the ruinous expenss if you have to redo it or tear it down?
I don't know what's more impressive. that a leaning building can be considered safe or the fact someone managed to spray paint the top of the building with seemingly no way to get there other than repelling off the roof
This building will never be finished and will have to be demolished. No one in their right mind will pay top dollar for a building with a questionable foundation that has been sitting out in the elements for half a decade. It will take a few hundred million just to finish it and fix the problems. Knowing this it will be impossible to find an investor/buyer or to find financing for that property.
there is one in San Francisco that sold...there are foundation fixes that can be done...The Millennium Tower lean has been stabilized..but still issues
I literally saw a short about this three days ago and thought “Jake would be all over that.” And there he is. He already was. Sweet! Now I get to learn more.
That graffiti! 9 floors! That's insane... how did they do that? Some massive rappelling? Some kind of inside help? All done by a fancy drone with a spray can on it? Just wild. And it'll be wild if they have to demolish this building. Taking down that much concrete carefully enough to not have it land on the street below will be quite the task. Thanks for the video!
There is similar tagging in tall buildings and bridges all around the city. You're correct in assuming there's some rappelling involved, but certainly not one with carbines and safety lines lol
A drone! That’s actually a good guess I think. It’s probably more likely than repelling, someone on an upper floor in one of the buildings near by would definitely notice a person hanging off the building, but probably not a drone.
Not a big fan of tall, skinny buildings. I worked at an old, thin tower nearby -- 70 Pine St. -- for several years in one of the highest floors. Whenever the wind blew, it swayed, alarmingly. Doors would swing open, the elevators would bang back and forth in the shafts. The building was built in the 1920's and had stood firm through many ferocious hurricanes so we thought it was safe, but I found the swaying to be unnerving for sure.
These days most of them have counter weights built in the top floor that keep them from swaying like that. Of course, this one was apparently not built like "most buildings."
@@karlwithak.Yes, but the fine buildings of the 1920s tend to be super well-built and built way over-code, so the 70 Pine St beauty, one of the finest old buildings in NYC, can probably be made to last another 100 or even much more with the proper care. After all, Europe is stuffed with buildings that are as old as 700 years and built with hand tools, that are standing as strong as they did when built. That said, cities like NYC and Chicago already have quite enough super-tall buildings and don't need any more. Supertall buildings are much more complex and demanding to design, build, and maintain than buildings 20 stories or less, requiring much more expertise in their design and construction, and many more and better-trained personnel to operate and maintain. There are relatively few people in any society who can carry the costs these buildings have, which is why high-rise low-income housing projects are such failures and quickly become unsanitary and unsafe. We probably should not build any more supertalls because they tend to become white elephants as they age, especially in cities with less wealth than NYC.
@@chicagonorthcoast 'Europe is stuffed with buildings that are as old as 700 years and built with hand tools, that are standing as strong as they did when built. ' name one super tall, 700-year-old skyscraping tower in europe. right. there aren't any. so are you comparing apples with oranges?
What is it with these big real estate companies investing millions into projects that get either bankrupt or have lawsuits filed and leave it abandoned?
@damnjustassignmeone Don't count on any honest reporting from the msm. Unless it's negative and dishonest President Trump news. The tagging was impressive...lol
@damnjustassignmeone Don't count on any honest reporting from the msm. Unless it's negative and dishonest President Trump news. The tagging was impressive...lol
When you are younger not only do you have less responsibilities (usually) but you also have less memories to look back on from experiences. The more you can slightly look back with memories or feelings of the time the further away you discover it was and the feeling of time passing away becomes more noticeable. It's a painful and sad reality but I hope it makes grateful for the some good people in life now whom we might not have later.
There needs to be a law that holds every developer accountable when projects like these are abandon. From the initial developers and investors that broke ground to the current owners exc. This will hold the blame to every party that comes in and not shift until completed
Yes he really is amazing given now with the issues of RUclips and a lot of content creators quitting these days along with other bad news about RUclips now but somehow it really surprised me this creator got going thought he was dead or had gotten kicked out really not as clear cut as I thought and really my mind isn't always okay I can admit.
So true I imagine for anything like that the footer would have to be 100-200 ft deep to where you positivity Confirm your all the down to bedrock and do drilling samples to confirm
I was in disbelief when I saw how small that parking lot was that served as the plot for this tower. Manhattan is becoming a parody of itself, there's simply no room left for the endless growth people demand.
It's sick that this glass monstrosity was approved in that tiny narrow space so close to historic structures. NYC is just as to blame as the developers for this ridiculous overbuilding and destruction of open space and sunlight. Hope it sits there and rots for years and they have to choke on the taxes.
5:00 : Actually, after watching enough YT and news videos about SF’s Millenium Tower, I’m glad that, while abandoned, this tower wasn’t inhabited, potentially unnecessarily risking more human lives. Thanks for the video!
The building wouldn't have been a risk to human life. This has been abandoned because the development company and their primary construction contractor had a massive falling-out, got into legal squabbles, froze progress, and everyone else pulled out.
@@Jeffmorgan83 Enbridge Tower on Jasper Ave. They've been turning it into a hotel since 2018 with little progress. I think there are a couple of businesses in it now, but most are 1 man call centres
I lived in this area 2018-2021. The area where this building is also...sucks. Seaport is cool but it gets old after a few monrhs when its your only option, and the nerest subway stop is like 3 long blocks away through a part of fidi that has an odd vibe
I walked by this tower everyday to work for 9 months. I was told by my co workers it was "leaning". I would see people working there off and on but not much seemed to be getting done. It wasn't "weathering" then but I have not seen it since COVID started. Looks rough now!
There are entire cities that are almost entirely if not entirely abandoned in China, not to mention individual buildings. The great urbanization project has not been nearly as successful as the government needed, and now that China's population is shrinking (a shrinking which will accelerate) it's stuck with a lot of dead space.
Great post Jake. I remember seeing the episode. Personally, I have never seen the attraction of NYC unless one grew up in a suburb and wants to experience city life (garbage on the streets, stepping over homeless people to get to Starbucks, and a rent invoice that should come with a defibrillator.). Ironically, people are willing to pay $10K a sq. ft. to live there and I wouldn't be surprised if someone took their chances on a building with improper footings. As for the one in San Francisco, yikes. They are due for another quake. A 30" list would be more than alarming.
The glazing is likely to need replacing and the elevator core some retrofitting, but it's perfectly safe structurally. The problem is the bottom fell out of the ultra-luxury market AND this building is now tainted, in a price range where image means everything. It's going to take a special developer to accept the risk, and with interest rates sky high that is not likely to happen anytime soon. But it will be completed, when conditions are just right.
You should look into the "Majesty Building." It's not necessarily abandoned, just a story of a televangelist's idea of a 0 debt building. Construction started around 2001 and is still not finished. The locats love it.
@@docmccoy9813theres a post above re that. The developer gave the family 5 million,in an agreement that kept them from facing jail. DA thought getting the family that money was the important thing.
@@patgal2359 Where did you find that? I can only find the NYC court document displayed in the video citing that they paid $842,000 in restitution and a measly $10,000 in fines and penalties.
Except $10K was just the fine. The ruling also ordered $842,000 in restitution. The video didn't mention that because its creator knows not doing so will generate more algorithm-feeding comment activity from ignorant anti-American bigots like you who think "American" is synonymous with "unjust"; who will blindly accept any "America bad" assertion without applying the slightest hint of critical thinking; and who are too absorbed in their bigotry to know that the same kinds of things happen elsewhere, too.
I enjoyed your video. I live in Corpus Christi Texas and we have/had a big too do about the bridge that we are trying to build over our harbor. The buffoons that are our City council, in their non-existent wisdom hired the same company for the project that built the bridge in Florida that fell. A good ways into construction, we found out that they had made some big mistakes on the two towers that straddle the harbor. The main, most important ones of the whole project. I've lost track of how many companies have cycled through, now. Those 2 towers are to be torn down and replaced. This project is years overdue and has had many quality and financial issues. Just another time our Council has dropped the ball. We also had a ton of problems with the Schliterbaun(sp?) that was another nightmare on our island. You could prolly ditch snow bound Canada for the lovely subtropical weather we have here to have an infinite number of shows. Or, at least open up a BSF satellite location.
its actually not uncommon for entire floors of the downtown new york area to be entirely empty due to financial or lack of interest reasons. people and businesses are feeling the state and city because of its policies and problems and so there are a lot of places that are just left to holding companies. they make it seem otherwise for pr reasons, but if you *live* there, you can tell. an ENTIRE building empty might be a rarity, i cant say. but its definitely not the only place in Manhattan that is suffering.
Thank you, kind sir for this video. I stayed at the hotel indigo (building next door) back in 2018 or 2019 and I never would have imagined 161 maiden lane would remain unfinished, especially given the location. I'm guessing the architect sought design inspiration from an elevator shaft.
What an awesome story about the luxury condo tower. Hard to believe, but true. Thanks for the great video, with a lot of impressions and information about the abandoned tower.
Honestly, 1 Seaport and Chicago Spire are sort of life lessons on what happens when a developer cuts corners on a project and tries to get it done quickly, basically a quantity over quality thing
The Chicago Spire does not count as such a project as not a single piece of it got built to begin with. The hole for the foundation was dug but the market turned and the financing fell through just as construction was about to begin. It was our banking system that was tottering at that time, not the non-existent building. The hole is still there. I haven't heard what will be done with it one way or the other for a decade.
It's a downward spire full of water with a luxury chainlink fence around it. After one person drowned in it, they decided that the fence would deter people. I always wonder if and/or how many bodies have been disappeared in there.
I live several blocks away from this doom development, and it's definitely an eye sore that should be dealt with. I'm willing to bet that if glass panels or concrete starts coming off the building and hitting the streets below, the NYC department of buildings with demolish the building for safety reasons in a heartbeat. Late 2023, the parking garage on 57 Ann Street collapsed and killed one person, than the NYC DOB listed it as unsafe and slowly demolished the building.
I hear closed for storm is an excellent documentary. That guy is pretty cool. Nice job Jake with that little Easter egg. I'd like to see how bad the inside of this building is. It looks like security is tight for now but nature has probably done quite a bit of damage. Especially if they started finishing out the interior.
I've been waiting for a video on this building from you, Jake! I agree it is super eerie seeing it as a part of the skyline, especially at night. Really strange that SO much money can get caught up behind such a seeming lack of foresight.
Designers and developers have this rule - when the project manager asks you how long something is going to take you estimate the time and then double it. These developers need a similar rule. Come up with whatever idea you have and then right before you announce it cut it in half. Build something you can actually finish. Build it at the highest quality possible and create a thing of beauty, a landmark that will stand the test of time.
That's reminds me of the hotel structure in Atlantic city NJ, who was abandoned then finished by new contractors. The ocean casino and resort hotel also changed ownership over the years.
not a high rise or abandoned by any means, but one of our condo buildings just had to evacuate this summer because of structural issues and it could cost millions to fix. they've done the bare minimum in attempting a temporary fix so that people could continue to live there, but a few condo owners weren't allowed to return. and there's been no communication on WHO will have to front the cost for all of this or when it'll ever be fully fixed (or when those who still haven't been able to move back in will be able to do so).
I was born in Manhattan, NYC in '55. My Dad an Iron Worker and a son of an Italian immigrant, my Grand Father, who was a Stone Mason, both managed to build perfect buildings with little more than hand tools 75-125 years ago, that still stand today with no problem. My oh my have things gotten far worse as we have so called "advanced" in technology.
I remember seeing this in NYC back in 2019 and thinking it was a beautifully slender building. Shocking to see it’s still unfinished and riddled with issues.
The man that died was part of a settlement with the family and the company. The company agreed to pay the family 5 million dollars n the state agreed to not seeking jail time and a low fine. So the AG of NY felt it was better to get the family money for their future instead of a long and drawn out court case that could go on for years.
You have to go back in History. When the Dutch swapped NY for a Nutmeg Island from the British. The Dutch thought the Land had little value as it was mostly swamp land. The only way forward is to demolish it. SF has got the problem. Foundations are the most important part in a building.
I am in NJ and believe there could beother factors working against this project besides the high cost of resuming it or tearing it down and starting over. There’s the economy and also the current social environment in NYC now. It’s so much worse now than it was in the 70’s. I don’t know, but I expect some developers might be holding off a bit on new projects. Wishing everyone well and all the best!
Hope all builders & developers watched stories about this tower and the Millennium Tower… that Cheaping out (on foundation) will cost you dearly later…
Speculators don't care- they figure that they'll sell the units and be gone before the first shovel hits the dirt. All the bad buildings built in the past 40 years are bad because our financial establishment and our monetary policies i.e. interest rate repression forever, drive short-term speculation at the expense of long-term investment. Crap is built to last a depreciation schedule at best, and city officials are so eager for "growth" at any cost, that they let a lot slide in the approval process.
Someone got paid off. That foundation work didn't go unnoticed when it was being done or the Blueprints were reviewed. It will end up being dismantled.
The problems with the tower are actually worse than generally reported. Specifically, the cladding halt occurred due to concerns regarding the effect of wind loads on a fully clad building and the need for further studies regarding the stability of the foundation. IMHO, there's no money to fix this building, nobody wants it, it's decaying by the hour, and will ultimately have to be taken down. The only good news is that there's a lot of know-how in NYC around dismantling high-rise buildings efficiently.
Companies that cannot complete projects become a major embarrassment to America. People need to stop trying to build exorbitantly tall structures since that is a major sign of vanity.
Your comment about the foundation system being a flat plate encased in a reinforced concrete shear wall is incorrect and doesn’t even make sense in structural engineering terms. As a licensed structural engineer those words do not describe a foundation system. The elevated structure is most likely a flat plate system with reinforced concrete shearwalls as the lateral system. There is a structure magazine article about the foundation system from 2019 indicating that the system is indeed on improved soil but contains thick mat footings as well as some rock anchors.
I was just strolling around in Wikipedia looking for stuff about New York, found this skyscraper yesterday, but didn't expect for you to talk about it. Great video though 👍
Subcontracting means lower bids and promises. Often those promise's are never kept. As the resident engineer I spent half my time fighting the contractor and the other half convincing management that it is not going well.
as someone who works labor in construction and is constantly on lifts or 10 stories up (i live in AZ), that Ecuadorian mans death isn't the companies fault. While yes its tragic, OSHA does exist. he either didnt tie off to iron or imbedded strut, wasnt wearing a harness all together, or wasn't paying attention to foot placement. people who have never worked blue collar always seem to fail to realize its you and a couple other laborers working in that specific area. youre manager (foreman) usually isnt breathing down your neck watching you work if you aren't someone who thinks McDonalds workers should get paid more. I recognize the building didnt have proper stability and not trying to speak ill on the dead, but you dont just fall to your death if you're doing everything right. hell, ive taken a nap on a 3 inch wide strut 60 feet up in the air on the 3rd floor of an Intel fab.
@@joelthames1141 I actually looked it up and there's a fault system about 25 miles (40km) to the west of New York, that may even go right under it. It's called the Ramapo Fault
@@joelthames1141 I looked it up and there actually is a fault line near New York, the Ramapo Fault. It isn't especially active but has the capability to produce a Magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake
As someone who works for one of NYCs largest general contractors, it makes me laugh when these developers think they can cheap out when building A SKYSCRAPER… there are many many shady contractors out there who survive purely off of low balling bids. Never, ever, ever, cheap out. Something will eventually happen and you’re going to wish you went with the reputable company rather than the cheap one.
at the same time, the customer should understand good work isn't cheap. if they accept the lowest bid, its equally on them. i do high voltage work at an Intel plant, and even the "reputable" union companies cheap out, break protocol, and are a year behind schedule like everyone else. from my limited 23 years of life, only difference i've seen between good and bad companies on a site are pay and how good your benefits are. yall still fuckin over the laborers, while yall put on a hard hat after sitting in your office, actin like youre hands aren't clean when you go home (maybe not you specifically depending on your position). idgaf what anyone says, PMs should not be making more than fools with 10+ years of experience still in the field.
In your opinion, would a leaning building be safe during hurricanes?
@@nanky432 leaning tower of pisa seems to be doing just fine 😂 its been through goddamn earthquakes
NYC is on the path to be detriotize as crime, illegals & homeless soar, meanwhile big corps heading for the exits.
If you think the guys that know what they're doing are expensive just wait until you see how much it's going to cost using one's that aren't.
I’ll never stop being confused at developers trying to cut corners on ultra-expensive, luxury homes. Who wants to pay millions of dollars for subpar results?
No one “wants” to. No less than 80% of new builds are done just that way though it’s not a new practice either.
The developers and contractors cut corners because they don't just want to make a good profit. They want to make millions. They'll find an engineer who will swear that a shortcut is perfectly safe and they'll do it. I wouldn't be so sure that chemically treating the soil to make it strong enough to support the building is a long-term fix.
@@Realwaltersobchakyou're saying 80% of buildings are done the way that they did this tower? It just didn't work out because the Tower is so tall or whatever?
To me, it seems like if there's any question, you look at the more expensive option as disaster insurance. How much worse can the cost be to do it right, when compared to the overall cost of such a huge project, and the ruinous expenss if you have to redo it or tear it down?
@@creedolala6918rich people usually get rich by being cheap bastards in every form of business
@@creedolala6918 every contractor wants to save money and use cheaper materials.
I don't know what's more impressive. that a leaning building can be considered safe or the fact someone managed to spray paint the top of the building with seemingly no way to get there other than repelling off the roof
I'm genuinely impressed by the graffiti
That’s a rappel job - very popular style in nyc
I would've been impressed if it was a banksy.
@@whispersoftheafterlife1017 thats better than anything banksy did or will ever do.
It's only leaning by a tiny amount, a few inches at the top iirc
This building will never be finished and will have to be demolished. No one in their right mind will pay top dollar for a building with a questionable foundation that has been sitting out in the elements for half a decade. It will take a few hundred million just to finish it and fix the problems. Knowing this it will be impossible to find an investor/buyer or to find financing for that property.
I agree. Someone will eventually come along to pay for the land and demo of the building.
@@johngavin3109 Hopefully not the NYC (or New York state) taxpayer though!
Plus its cursed.
They ll finish it and fill it with migrants
there is one in San Francisco that sold...there are foundation fixes that can be done...The Millennium Tower lean has been stabilized..but still issues
I literally saw a short about this three days ago and thought “Jake would be all over that.”
And there he is. He already was. Sweet! Now I get to learn more.
I get to learn more because he uploaded it.
@@mkhanman12345 I knew SF had a leaning tower but I didn't know that NYC had one as well !
“Abandoned since 2018” Ah, so like 2 years ago… oh wait… shit…
I don't like thinking about this
That's like, 8 years from now, right?
This is so real 😭
WHERE TIME HAS GONE
Covid took away a few years of life experience.
That graffiti! 9 floors! That's insane... how did they do that? Some massive rappelling? Some kind of inside help? All done by a fancy drone with a spray can on it? Just wild. And it'll be wild if they have to demolish this building. Taking down that much concrete carefully enough to not have it land on the street below will be quite the task. Thanks for the video!
I wonder how no one saw the graffiti artist at work. That's not exactly a private piece of wall.
no one in that shithole looks up@@Bobrogers99
There is similar tagging in tall buildings and bridges all around the city. You're correct in assuming there's some rappelling involved, but certainly not one with carbines and safety lines lol
Seriously, that graffiti-artist deserves their own video!
A drone! That’s actually a good guess I think. It’s probably more likely than repelling, someone on an upper floor in one of the buildings near by would definitely notice a person hanging off the building, but probably not a drone.
Not a big fan of tall, skinny buildings. I worked at an old, thin tower nearby -- 70 Pine St. -- for several years in one of the highest floors. Whenever the wind blew, it swayed, alarmingly. Doors would swing open, the elevators would bang back and forth in the shafts. The building was built in the 1920's and had stood firm through many ferocious hurricanes so we thought it was safe, but I found the swaying to be unnerving for sure.
Maybe it wasn't the wind, maybe there are ghosts!
Buildings are designed to sway a little.
These days most of them have counter weights built in the top floor that keep them from swaying like that. Of course, this one was apparently not built like "most buildings."
@@karlwithak.Yes, but the fine buildings of the 1920s tend to be super well-built and built way over-code, so the 70 Pine St beauty, one of the finest old buildings in NYC, can probably be made to last another 100 or even much more with the proper care. After all, Europe is stuffed with buildings that are as old as 700 years and built with hand tools, that are standing as strong as they did when built. That said, cities like NYC and Chicago already have quite enough super-tall buildings and don't need any more. Supertall buildings are much more complex and demanding to design, build, and maintain than buildings 20 stories or less, requiring much more expertise in their design and construction, and many more and better-trained personnel to operate and maintain. There are relatively few people in any society who can carry the costs these buildings have, which is why high-rise low-income housing projects are such failures and quickly become unsanitary and unsafe. We probably should not build any more supertalls because they tend to become white elephants as they age, especially in cities with less wealth than NYC.
@@chicagonorthcoast 'Europe is stuffed with buildings that are as old as 700 years and built with hand tools, that are standing as strong as they did when built. ' name one super tall, 700-year-old skyscraping tower in europe. right. there aren't any. so are you comparing apples with oranges?
There’s actually a lot of abandoned buildings in nyc. They’re just not concentrated in one area
And some fake buildings.
@@RXSVN_2 fake buildings? what's that?
😂😂😂 mention since you are in iran
@@Heyu7her3well for one, quite a few* buildings are just vent stations for the subway.
I wonder how many abandoned buildings?
Good time for a rebrand of the building. It should be called 'The Leaning Tower of Pizzarotti' 😉
"The Leaning Tower of Cost Cutting"?
Those liars said they could have it ready for people to move in by 2018.
What is it with these big real estate companies investing millions into projects that get either bankrupt or have lawsuits filed and leave it abandoned?
late-stage capitalism aka unfettered greed and impatience for returns
…it’s the cash on the front end ya know (then disappears)
Construction is one of the easiest way to launder money.
Yes you can only wonder about that and still great video of Jake considering the bad news lately and other creators going away.
Union's! And organized crime.
Isn’t it odd that both coasts of the United States have a leaning tower? San Francisco has Millennium Tower and New York has 1 Seaport
St Louis also does, and is in the middle
The perfect balance
It is, though what’s even stranger to me is that next to nobody in NYC has heard of 1 Seaport. It’s certainly news to me.
@damnjustassignmeone Don't count on any honest reporting from the msm. Unless it's negative and dishonest President Trump news. The tagging was impressive...lol
@damnjustassignmeone Don't count on any honest reporting from the msm. Unless it's negative and dishonest President Trump news. The tagging was impressive...lol
"2015, nearly a decade ago." Hah that's ridiculous, there's no wa- *Looks at a calender* Oh dear god no
It makes sense bc when you were younger time was slower since you barely existed compared to adults
I legit thought you were pointing this out as an error made lol
When you are younger not only do you have less responsibilities (usually) but you also have less memories to look back on from experiences. The more you can slightly look back with memories or feelings of the time the further away you discover it was and the feeling of time passing away becomes more noticeable. It's a painful and sad reality but I hope it makes grateful for the some good people in life now whom we might not have later.
3 years from 2018 is hardly a decade...
@@NatureXwars He's talking about when construction first started in 2015.
There needs to be a law that holds every developer accountable when projects like these are abandon. From the initial developers and investors that broke ground to the current owners exc. This will hold the blame to every party that comes in and not shift until completed
If there is a wall, it will be tagged😅
My ferry goes by that tower every day, and I always wondered why construction was so slow.
Wow, that ad transition was smoother than cake icing. Jokes aside, been watching your videos since the early abandoned days. Keep it up, Jake
Yes he really is amazing given now with the issues of RUclips and a lot of content creators quitting these days along with other bad news about RUclips now but somehow it really surprised me this creator got going thought he was dead or had gotten kicked out really not as clear cut as I thought and really my mind isn't always okay I can admit.
that is the poorest design ive ever seen for something reaching far into the sky like that. wow, very scary stuff
Tall and narrow buildings are extremely prone to structural deformities.
I wonder if they are twerking on a buttress? 😉
And FUGLY
So true I imagine for anything like that the footer would have to be 100-200 ft deep to where you positivity Confirm your all the down to bedrock and do drilling samples to confirm
Yes if you go with the lowest bidder, I can almost guarantee you corners will be cut ,and it will be way,way more in the long run to correct
Little 'margin for error' !
I was in disbelief when I saw how small that parking lot was that served as the plot for this tower. Manhattan is becoming a parody of itself, there's simply no room left for the endless growth people demand.
It has increased. Look it up.
yes, illegal emigrants.@@stopmakingsense9915
It's sick that this glass monstrosity was approved in that tiny narrow space so close to historic structures. NYC is just as to blame as the developers for this ridiculous overbuilding and destruction of open space and sunlight. Hope it sits there and rots for years and they have to choke on the taxes.
There were talks about connecting buildings together so there can be a city above the city.
5:00 : Actually, after watching enough YT and news videos about SF’s Millenium Tower, I’m glad that, while abandoned, this tower wasn’t inhabited, potentially unnecessarily risking more human lives. Thanks for the video!
The building wouldn't have been a risk to human life. This has been abandoned because the development company and their primary construction contractor had a massive falling-out, got into legal squabbles, froze progress, and everyone else pulled out.
There's a tower in my hometown of Edmonton, that's been empty for almost 12 years. There's no fines, no structural issues, nothing.
Just abandoned
I live in Edmonton too. Which tower are you referring? I find abandoned buildings fascinating.
@@Jeffmorgan83 Enbridge Tower on Jasper Ave. They've been turning it into a hotel since 2018 with little progress. I think there are a couple of businesses in it now, but most are 1 man call centres
@@OuterSpawn Oh that's right!
Strong Financials...
Flip to condos.
Creepy. I'd still love to check it out.
I live directly across from this thing and I have to look at it every day when I wake up and go to sleep, so happy to see you cover it
No you don't
Graffiti guys had some BALLS!
Or insanity !
@@linmal2242 Yes, haha...pretty insane for sure.
I lived in this area 2018-2021. The area where this building is also...sucks. Seaport is cool but it gets old after a few monrhs when its your only option, and the nerest subway stop is like 3 long blocks away through a part of fidi that has an odd vibe
I walked by this tower everyday to work for 9 months. I was told by my co workers it was "leaning". I would see people working there off and on but not much seemed to be getting done. It wasn't "weathering" then but I have not seen it since COVID started. Looks rough now!
Jake should do a video on Goldin Finance 117, it’s nearly 2,000 feet tall and is completely abandoned in the middle of nowhere in Tianjin, China!
That sounds really intriguing and I’ve never heard of it
ohh yeah alot of stuff abandoned and falling apart in china. but getting videos and pictures is hard in a communist dictatorship
There are entire cities that are almost entirely if not entirely abandoned in China, not to mention individual buildings. The great urbanization project has not been nearly as successful as the government needed, and now that China's population is shrinking (a shrinking which will accelerate) it's stuck with a lot of dead space.
Great post Jake. I remember seeing the episode. Personally, I have never seen the attraction of NYC unless one grew up in a suburb and wants to experience city life (garbage on the streets, stepping over homeless people to get to Starbucks, and a rent invoice that should come with a defibrillator.). Ironically, people are willing to pay $10K a sq. ft. to live there and I wouldn't be surprised if someone took their chances on a building with improper footings. As for the one in San Francisco, yikes. They are due for another quake. A 30" list would be more than alarming.
FIRST BSF VIDEO OF THE YEAR LET'S GO! 🎉
Yes it really is and these days way uncertain along with a lot of RUclips creators quitting but somehow he got through.
The glazing is likely to need replacing and the elevator core some retrofitting, but it's perfectly safe structurally. The problem is the bottom fell out of the ultra-luxury market AND this building is now tainted, in a price range where image means everything. It's going to take a special developer to accept the risk, and with interest rates sky high that is not likely to happen anytime soon. But it will be completed, when conditions are just right.
You should look into the "Majesty Building." It's not necessarily abandoned, just a story of a televangelist's idea of a 0 debt building. Construction started around 2001 and is still not finished. The locats love it.
RIP to the man who died while the building was being built. That hurt my heart to hear 😞💔
$10.000 fine. That's the cost of 1 immigrant
@@docmccoy9813theres a post above re that. The developer gave the family 5 million,in an agreement that kept them from facing jail. DA thought getting the family that money was the important thing.
@@patgal2359 Where did you find that? I can only find the NYC court document displayed in the video citing that they paid $842,000 in restitution and a measly $10,000 in fines and penalties.
Being guilty of manslaughter and paying $10K being the only penalty for a luxury home business is just so American (unjust).
Except $10K was just the fine. The ruling also ordered $842,000 in restitution. The video didn't mention that because its creator knows not doing so will generate more algorithm-feeding comment activity from ignorant anti-American bigots like you who think "American" is synonymous with "unjust"; who will blindly accept any "America bad" assertion without applying the slightest hint of critical thinking; and who are too absorbed in their bigotry to know that the same kinds of things happen elsewhere, too.
I enjoyed your video.
I live in Corpus Christi Texas and we have/had a big too do about the bridge that we are trying to build over our harbor. The buffoons that are our City council, in their non-existent wisdom hired the same company for the project that built the bridge in Florida that fell. A good ways into construction, we found out that they had made some big mistakes on the two towers that straddle the harbor. The main, most important ones of the whole project. I've lost track of how many companies have cycled through, now. Those 2 towers are to be torn down and replaced. This project is years overdue and has had many quality and financial issues.
Just another time our Council has dropped the ball. We also had a ton of problems with the Schliterbaun(sp?) that was another nightmare on our island.
You could prolly ditch snow bound Canada for the lovely subtropical weather we have here to have an infinite number of shows. Or, at least open up a BSF satellite location.
Is it true every high school in Corpus has a maternity ward?
@@eradicator187 And an abortion clinic where you should have been.
That bridge collapse in Florida was criminal!
Assuming the worst case scenario, how do you demolish a building that size in such a densely populated area?
That is a great question
Slowly
Easy it’s just deconstructed just like how they deconstructed 270 park avenue.
I wonder if it will be a lot more difficult, though, considering how slender the tower is
@@BrightSunFilms Unlikely from my understanding of how deconstruction works it is pretty much construction done backwards.
its actually not uncommon for entire floors of the downtown new york area to be entirely empty due to financial or lack of interest reasons. people and businesses are feeling the state and city because of its policies and problems and so there are a lot of places that are just left to holding companies. they make it seem otherwise for pr reasons, but if you *live* there, you can tell. an ENTIRE building empty might be a rarity, i cant say. but its definitely not the only place in Manhattan that is suffering.
Its wild to me how much the skyline has changed in the last 15ish years. These stick buildings are all over the place now
And they’re ugly.
i live a few blocks from this building - it’s unbelievable how they’ve just left it like that
Thank you, kind sir for this video. I stayed at the hotel indigo (building next door) back in 2018 or 2019 and I never would have imagined 161 maiden lane would remain unfinished, especially given the location. I'm guessing the architect sought design inspiration from an elevator shaft.
You know it's a good day when Jake uploads
What an awesome story about the luxury condo tower. Hard to believe, but true. Thanks for the great video, with a lot of impressions and information about the abandoned tower.
I've been following the Millenium Tower fiasco, nice that NYC said "hold my beer".
Crazy to see an abandoned building at one of the most valuable sites in the world
Honestly, 1 Seaport and Chicago Spire are sort of life lessons on what happens when a developer cuts corners on a project and tries to get it done quickly, basically a quantity over quality thing
The Chicago Spire does not count as such a project as not a single piece of it got built to begin with. The hole for the foundation was dug but the market turned and the financing fell through just as construction was about to begin. It was our banking system that was tottering at that time, not the non-existent building. The hole is still there. I haven't heard what will be done with it one way or the other for a decade.
It's a downward spire full of water with a luxury chainlink fence around it. After one person drowned in it, they decided that the fence would deter people.
I always wonder if and/or how many bodies have been disappeared in there.
Chicago Spire has never been more than a hole in the ground. The banking crisis dried up all the easy credit.
@@VinceP1974 , How I remember how disappointed we were when that project was canceled. I've stared at that hole a lot since.
Awesome to see you haven’t left! Hope you cover more abandoned chains and parks as my dream redo of Nick Studios just happened last episode.
Yes it's been tough these years along with so many creators going away or quitting now.
BSF always has such interesting, well-produced content. One of the best RUclips channels IMO. Thanks for another great video.
Thank you so much!
I can’t understand why you don’t have a series on net flicks. I always sooo look forward to my new BSF video!
Damn, I was in New York almost a year ago and never noticed it when I was around the area. Might go back just to see it
I live several blocks away from this doom development, and it's definitely an eye sore that should be dealt with. I'm willing to bet that if glass panels or concrete starts coming off the building and hitting the streets below, the NYC department of buildings with demolish the building for safety reasons in a heartbeat. Late 2023, the parking garage on 57 Ann Street collapsed and killed one person, than the NYC DOB listed it as unsafe and slowly demolished the building.
@karlwithak. Looking down on a pile of garbage? Those apts have (had) views of the Seaport and Brooklyn Heights, very beautiful views.
Great video. Clear, concise and professional.
As a rural bavarian who had never been higher than a bell tower i could never live in one of these skyscrapers. I'd live in constant fear and anxiety.
they are definately a fire hazard....floor 3 is as high as your should be...in fires its 1 breath of smoke which kills, not heat and flame!!
They are needed for recycling drug money.
That is called 'common sense' friend
Rarely do windows open. It's all 'ventilated' air.
Your bathroom is literally a much bigger hazard, or driving on snowy roads.
The Weekend starts perfect when there is the first BSF Video of the Year poppin' up. 🎉 I must watch this immediately.
We need to get "Proper People" into this building asap!
Who are "proper People?"
The Proper People are a RUclips channel that does abandoned building exploration
I live in Los Angeles and all I can say is that if I lived there I would've tagged that whole building up in a few weeks 😎🤘🏽
Have you hit the building in DTLA?
Time for y'all to catch a flight to NYC. Tag em all 😂
I hear closed for storm is an excellent documentary. That guy is pretty cool. Nice job Jake with that little Easter egg.
I'd like to see how bad the inside of this building is. It looks like security is tight for now but nature has probably done quite a bit of damage. Especially if they started finishing out the interior.
I was just there yesterday visiting and wondered about this building. Perfect timing for this upload!
I've been waiting for a video on this building from you, Jake! I agree it is super eerie seeing it as a part of the skyline, especially at night. Really strange that SO much money can get caught up behind such a seeming lack of foresight.
Same! I hope the video does well.
Yay a Jake vid on Friday! *snuggles into my blanket on the couch and watches on TV*
Couch*
All good, auto-incorrect is a pain sometimes
@@RavenFilms indeed it is. Although I remember one of my PE coaches being hot so, lol
Designers and developers have this rule - when the project manager asks you how long something is going to take you estimate the time and then double it. These developers need a similar rule. Come up with whatever idea you have and then right before you announce it cut it in half. Build something you can actually finish. Build it at the highest quality possible and create a thing of beauty, a landmark that will stand the test of time.
Developers cutting corners instead of just doing the job right the first time? I'm shocked, shocked.
Thank you for this fantastic video! Up until yesterday, every time I passed by it, I asked myself why it was like that, and now I know.
Yo. Please figure out how to get in those DTLA towers. That art is wild, and its been abandoned for years.
That's reminds me of the hotel structure in Atlantic city NJ, who was abandoned then finished by new contractors. The ocean casino and resort hotel also changed ownership over the years.
"2015 almost a decade ago", I had to step away for a few moments ...
Yeah… I know
The lost years of COVID…
@1:45... the Guggenheim in NY was Frank Lloyd Wright, not Frank Gehry. Gehry designed the Guggenheim in Spain
Always a great day when you drop a new video.
You know it’s a awesome day when Jake uploads 😊
For $1000 a month I'll live in the penthouse and risk it
not a high rise or abandoned by any means, but one of our condo buildings just had to evacuate this summer because of structural issues and it could cost millions to fix. they've done the bare minimum in attempting a temporary fix so that people could continue to live there, but a few condo owners weren't allowed to return. and there's been no communication on WHO will have to front the cost for all of this or when it'll ever be fully fixed (or when those who still haven't been able to move back in will be able to do so).
I was born in Manhattan, NYC in '55. My Dad an Iron Worker and a son of an Italian immigrant, my Grand Father, who was a Stone Mason, both managed to build perfect buildings with little more than hand tools 75-125 years ago, that still stand today with no problem. My oh my have things gotten far worse as we have so called "advanced" in technology.
The results of greed.
I remember seeing this in NYC back in 2019 and thinking it was a beautifully slender building. Shocking to see it’s still unfinished and riddled with issues.
The man that died was part of a settlement with the family and the company. The company agreed to pay the family 5 million dollars n the state agreed to not seeking jail time and a low fine. So the AG of NY felt it was better to get the family money for their future instead of a long and drawn out court case that could go on for years.
Thanks for sharing that. Makes sense when you understand that background.
NYC not doing their own due diligence before this project even began shows how corrupt the city really is
That ad transition 👌
You have to go back in History. When the Dutch swapped NY for a Nutmeg Island from the British. The Dutch thought the Land had little value as it was mostly swamp land. The only way forward is to demolish it. SF has got the problem. Foundations are the most important part in a building.
Bright Sun videos are the best on the internet .....Keep up the GREAT work Jake.
Thank you so much!
I am in NJ and believe there could beother factors working against this project besides the high cost of resuming it or tearing it down and starting over. There’s the economy and also the current social environment in NYC now. It’s so much worse now than it was in the 70’s. I don’t know, but I expect some developers might be holding off a bit on new projects.
Wishing everyone well and all the best!
That was one of the best segue into the ad I have ever seen. Well done as always, Jake
When the huge towers are built the foundations should be very carefully inspected every step of the way. No cutting corners.
Hope all builders & developers watched stories about this tower and the Millennium Tower… that Cheaping out (on foundation) will cost you dearly later…
they dont care.....FREEMASON and insurance scam
Speculators don't care- they figure that they'll sell the units and be gone before the first shovel hits the dirt. All the bad buildings built in the past 40 years are bad because our financial establishment and our monetary policies i.e. interest rate repression forever, drive short-term speculation at the expense of long-term investment. Crap is built to last a depreciation schedule at best, and city officials are so eager for "growth" at any cost, that they let a lot slide in the approval process.
im around this area often and had no idea about any of this!!! love seeing a video based around somewhere so close to home!
You never fail to document things Jake!
Thanks!
Someone got paid off. That foundation work didn't go unnoticed when it was being done or the Blueprints were reviewed. It will end up being dismantled.
They have to disassemble it piece by piece.
The problems with the tower are actually worse than generally reported. Specifically, the cladding halt occurred due to concerns regarding the effect of wind loads on a fully clad building and the need for further studies regarding the stability of the foundation. IMHO, there's no money to fix this building, nobody wants it, it's decaying by the hour, and will ultimately have to be taken down. The only good news is that there's a lot of know-how in NYC around dismantling high-rise buildings efficiently.
It’s reminding me of that GTA V building that’s been under construction since 2013
I thought of that too when you said that!
Companies that cannot complete projects become a major embarrassment to America. People need to stop trying to build exorbitantly tall structures since that is a major sign of vanity.
Yup just like of Millenium tower here in The Bay!
Another masterpiece of the video. Thank you for posting this.
Your comment about the foundation system being a flat plate encased in a reinforced concrete shear wall is incorrect and doesn’t even make sense in structural engineering terms. As a licensed structural engineer those words do not describe a foundation system. The elevated structure is most likely a flat plate system with reinforced concrete shearwalls as the lateral system.
There is a structure magazine article about the foundation system from 2019 indicating that the system is indeed on improved soil but contains thick mat footings as well as some rock anchors.
I was just strolling around in Wikipedia looking for stuff about New York, found this skyscraper yesterday, but didn't expect for you to talk about it. Great video though 👍
Skynet lsitens and provides!
Happy to see you back
Happy to see YOU back :)
When you said that they were selling condos before the building was finished I thought it sounded like the building from million dollar listing!
9:25 If there was a Nobel Prize for graffiti, it should go to the Chad who tagged this building.
It's not even high-quality graffiti, and all the criminal vandal(s) did was rappel over the side. That's common in the twin trash heaps of NYC and LA.
Subcontracting means lower bids and promises. Often those promise's are never kept. As the resident engineer I spent half my time fighting the contractor and the other half convincing management that it is not going well.
as someone who works labor in construction and is constantly on lifts or 10 stories up (i live in AZ), that Ecuadorian mans death isn't the companies fault. While yes its tragic, OSHA does exist. he either didnt tie off to iron or imbedded strut, wasnt wearing a harness all together, or wasn't paying attention to foot placement. people who have never worked blue collar always seem to fail to realize its you and a couple other laborers working in that specific area. youre manager (foreman) usually isnt breathing down your neck watching you work if you aren't someone who thinks McDonalds workers should get paid more. I recognize the building didnt have proper stability and not trying to speak ill on the dead, but you dont just fall to your death if you're doing everything right. hell, ive taken a nap on a 3 inch wide strut 60 feet up in the air on the 3rd floor of an Intel fab.
That transition into the sponsors ad was clean 👌
Every time I see these pencil towers I always think they'll fall over if there's any kind of serious windstorm
Earth quakes!!!
@@joelthames1141 New York doesn't have big earthquakes, which means this really isn't a problem there
@@elvastanKeep telling yourself that - earthquakes can occur anyplace on earth!!!
@@joelthames1141 I actually looked it up and there's a fault system about 25 miles (40km) to the west of New York, that may even go right under it. It's called the Ramapo Fault
@@joelthames1141 I looked it up and there actually is a fault line near New York, the Ramapo Fault. It isn't especially active but has the capability to produce a Magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake
Thanks for the update on this building
This matter sounds like the leaning
skyscraper in San Francisco. 😮
Drive by that building all the time. It truly is an eye sore. Suspended in time just waiting.....