what the hell is going on? Another crane collapse? This one was on East 91st Street off 1st Avenue. The last one – In March – was East 51st Street between 1st and 2nd. After that one, city building inspectors said they examined over 200 mobile cranes across the city and ended up shutting down about a quarter of them. Apparently not enough.

I gather that there had been a number of complaints called into 311 about the crane but no actual violations had been found.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I will think twice before walking anywhere NEAR a construction site along 1st Avenue. This is made especially awkward since I live off 1st Avenue and there is a construction site on the corner that I have to cut through (not around mind you – cut through) thanks to half-assed traffic cones and plastic barriers. If a building inspector ever came to that site, they either decided that the pedestrian traffic pattern created by the barriers wasn’t his/her problem or decided that those of us who walk the streets ‘buys our tickets and takes our chances.”