Officials Reveal Details of Accident at Deutsche Bank Building

By Andrea Appleton
POSTED JUNE 13, 2007

A “change of routine” during the deconstruction of 130 Liberty Street, the former Deutsche Bank building, was a factor in the accident last month that sent a pipe flying through the roof of a nearby firehouse, the top official of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC) told Community Board 1. (Though the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) owns the building, the LMCCC has overseen much of the project to date.) 

No one was seriously hurt in the May 17 accident. Two firefighters at the Engine 10 Ladder 10 firehouse on Liberty Street received minor injuries. 

Charlie Maikish, the executive director of LMCCC, which oversees the coordination of Downtown construction, told CB1's World Trade Center Redevelopment committee on June 11 that until shortly before the incident, workers were recovering existing pipes in the exterior walls of the building, and cleaning them of toxic dust to recover the metal. Because of the cost of cleaning the pipe, the contractor decided that below a certain floor, the pipes would be disposed of as toxic material. The result was that workers cut a section of pipe down, leaving a section that had already been cleaned hanging on the wall above. When the floor was demolished, so were the hangers supporting the pipe, and the pipe fell.

“It was sort of a perfect storm,” said Maikish. “It bounced and went up and over the railing, over the x-bracing, through the netting, and then down through the roof of the firehouse. It you were to try and repeat it, it would probably be impossible.”

The Department of Buildings lifted a stop work order on the site on June 1, but a formal report following an investigation into the incident has yet to be released.

At the meeting, LMCCC representatives described a new safety plan by Bovis Lend Lease, lead contractor on the project. The plan includes enshrouding the building in plywood to prevent flying objects, and adding a sidewalk shed along Greenwich Street. The plan also emphasizes heightened “policing” of the area, with additional safety experts on site.

“We’ve done about as much as you can do that’s humanly possible to prevent any kind of similar occurrence happening in the future,” said Maikish.

But the new site plan may not appease the residents of 125 Cedar St., across the street from the site.

“These guys from LMDC walk around giving us these big reassuring lines about how incredibly safe everything is,” said resident Mary Perillo. “We’re just lucky it didn’t come through our roof.”

“I knew something was going to fall,” said another resident, Diane Blell. “We’re just sitting ducks down here.”

Several firefighters from Engine 10 Ladder 10 who asked not to be identified said the steel pipe punched a hole through the firehouse roof and pierced the ceiling of the second floor, protruding into a stairwell. It reportedly narrowly missed one firefighter, who dove out of the way. Another also received minor injuries escaping the pipe. Both were treated at New York Downtown Hospital and released, according to the LMDC.

The pipe may not have been the first projectile to fly off the deconstruction site. In early May, Mark Scherzer and Peter Davies found a six-inch-long chunk of concrete on their 125 Cedar St. penthouse terrace. Scherzer said he had previously contacted the LMCCC, complaining about overloaded dumpsters being lowered from the former Deutsche Bank building.

Following the pipe accident, the DOB issued a violation to the John Galt Group for “failure to safeguard the public and property.” Galt is a subcontractor of Bovis Lend Lease.

Last year, Community Board 1 passed a resolution opposing hiring Galt for the work, citing inexperience and news reports of ties to organized crime. CB1 called on the LMDC to “only use companies with appropriate qualifications and experience.” It noted that Galt obtained their asbestos removal license only shortly before they were hired on the project.

A serious accident occurred in March 2006, when a worker fell 40 feet from the building, and survived. The John Galt Group consequently received three violations from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

For Scherzer, whose patio is wide open, the danger continues to feel very real. “I would like their [LMCCC] advice as to when it might be safe to go out on the patio and water the plants.”

For more about construction troubles at 125 Cedar Street, click here.

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