Posted on 09/02/2026 3:08:45 PM PDT by lowbridge
In the heart of Lower Manhattan, a 60-story glass skyscraper has been sitting abandoned and unfinished for years. It overlooks the East River. It leans three inches to the north. Glass panels have fallen off its facade. And nobody — not the developer, not the lenders, not the courts — can agree on how to fix it.
This is 161 Maiden Lane. New York City's very own Leaning Tower. A $600M luxury skyscraper that was supposed to sell 80 waterfront condos for up to $18 million each. Instead, it became one of the most expensive construction disasters in American history — and it started with a decision to save just $6 million on the foundation.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.youtube.com ...
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The Primary Accused Parties
The Developer (Fortis Property Group): The construction contractor, Pizzarotti, filed a lawsuit alleging that Fortis Property Group cut corners to save money. Instead of drilling standard, deep structural piles 155 feet down into solid bedrock, Fortis allegedly chose a cheaper “$6 million soil-improvement method” to harden the loose East River landfill soil. An engineering consultant explicitly warned that this method would cause uneven settling, but the developer allegedly ignored it.
The Contractor (Pizzarotti): Conversely, Fortis counter-sued and blamed Pizzarotti for structural mismanagement. Fortis claimed that the building’s alignment issues were caused by Pizzarotti’s failure to properly survey, pour, and align the concrete floors as the tower rose, rather than a failure of the foundation itself.
Current Status: Because of the ongoing finger-pointing and structural danger, the project was completely abandoned in 2020. The property remains trapped in legal limbo among Fortis, subsequent contractors, and its lender, Bank Leumi, which has attempted to foreclose on the $120 million loan.To understand the exact engineering mechanics behind why this choice of foundation caused the building to tilt, you can watch this analysis:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qNiNur0dVsk&is=bUaTSR3W9MzeucJq
The Mayor of NYC will not help as Bank Leumi is Israel’s largest bank.
Donald Trump could fix this. It’s right up his alley. And bring it in under budget and it would look beautiful. I’m not being sarcastic.
“Instead, it became one of the most expensive construction disasters in American history”
And I wish them many, many more.
You are welcome.😀
Maybe some Arab pilot friends of Mamdani can help them out.
“Bureaucracy”
Democrats.
Name it “DNC HEADQUARTERS”
Yep.
Mudjackers can right the building...I saw it on TV!
Who in their right mind would want to live 60 stories up in a skyscaper?
A 21 min video that could have been done in less than five.
These videos endlessly repeat the same phrases and repeat the same photos and video.
What's the point of deliberately padding these videos with redundant babbling?
Developer Fortis Property Group skipped deep piles to bedrock and used cheaper “soil improvement” (jet grouting) to save about $6 million. The ground settled unevenly. By 2018–2019 the tower was leaning a few inches north; some later surveys put parts of the structure further out of plumb
If the building is in danger of collapsing, the city or state should condemn it as nuisance like any other, or they can demand the owner fix, or bill to demolish it. If the building is now worthless, the city gets no tax from it.
Drives me crazy, too. So I usually ask Grok about the story instead of clicking on YT.
There is one more in downtown San Francisco, leaning slightly but noticeably, and has dropped some 8 feet down into the subway station below.
Good grief! Some one at Fortis probably had to find another job.
If it’s not inhabitable, it’s just a big tax write off, I guess.
I suppose. Not in my sphere of knowledge....
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