An exciting moment for CitizenM and its new Lower East Side hotel was actually scary for neighbours in the vicinity. If you happened to be near Bowery and Delancey yesterday morning, you saw it.
The controversial crane – a Liebherr Power Boom – lifted the first modular unit into place from its trailer-bound perch. From here, the stacking of these “pods” will continue to the top, nineteen stories up.
The action attracted gawkers of all stripes. A gaggle of Rinaldi Group contractors capturing the moment for posterity; locals sitting on the stoop of the Germania Bank Building (despite the recent order to the contrary); commuters snapping iPhone shots; and there was even a drone operator documenting the scene from eight stories up. Until the batteries died.
Polcom Modular is the purported supplier of these modular building blocks.
Meanwhile, there are still worries that this crane is the wrong equipment for the job, especially with winter approaching. One reader who has decades of experience in construction noted that Power Booms are not meant for long-term jobs. That they’re “made for movement, not stationary construction,” and could prove very dangerous in a highly populated area.
Plus, its very presence here, scheduled for the next twenty weeks, is causing traffic bottlenecks.
Original link - Bowery Boogie
