NEW YORK (AP) – Nine-hundred guests at a nearby hotel are among those who have been evacuated as a construction crane dangles from a luxury high-rise in midtown Manhattan.
The crane collapsed in high winds as conditions worsened from the approaching Hurricane Sandy. Meteorologists say winds atop the 74-story building could have been close to 95 mph at the time.
Engineers and inspectors were planning to climb to the top of the building to examine it as the huge storm — now classified a post-tropical cyclone — bears down on the city.
There are no reports of injuries. City officials don’t have a number on how many people have been told to leave.
The nearly-completed high-rise is known as 0ne57 and is in one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods, near Carnegie Hall, Columbus Circle and Central Park.
City officials say the crane had been inspected, along with other city cranes, on Friday and was found to be ready for the weather.
