this famous NYC skyscraper was almost toppled by winds — and the people who worked inside it had no idea of the danger they were in. the red cross was contacted and plans where in the works to evacuate a 10 block radius due to expected hurricane winds. this is the citicorp tower: located on lexington ave between w 53rd and 54th. the building was erected in 1977.

“the great miscalculation”

the 54-story skyscraper was completed in  1977. less than a year later, chief engineer bill (william) lemessurier found it had a 1 in 16 chance of toppling over in hurricane winds. the discovery set off a frantic effort to save it without letting the public know — with the summer hurricane season fast approaching.

bill lemessurier – chief engineer behind citicorps design

lemessurier, who was busy on many other projects, knew he hadn’t paid enough attention to citicorp after he turned it over to a team of engineers. he had to decide between alerting stubbins and citibank chairman walter wriston to his mistakes — thus jeopardizing his reputation and career — or remaining silent and praying the worst wouldn’t happen.

bill lemessurier (the structural engineer) initially considered suicide… before realizing he had to let the cat out of the bag.

highrise architectural design: chevron bracing and the introduction of the tuned mass damper TMD which is now used in almost every new highrise. in the end the secret fix cost citicorp just 4-5 million dollars.

it was “one of the greatest engineering crises in history,” michael m. greenburg, the author of “the great miscalculation: the race to save new york city’s citicorp tower” says.

although lemessurier ultimately came to the rescue in time, his legacy is tainted, greenburg writes, by his “failure to provide adequate direction and oversight … in the development of the citicorp center engineering drawings, calculations and revisions.”

greenburg weaves a compelling, thriller-like narrative. the 1977 blackout plunged the metropolis into darkness and rioting. the city had barely averted bankruptcy and corporations were fleeing for the suburbs.

the exception was citibank. wriston wanted to create a signature skyscraper on manhattan’s east side. he secretly assembled a large site between lexington and third avenue, between east 53rd and 54th.

one challenge remained: st. peter’s lutheran church, at the corner of lexington avenue and east 54th street, which was also a cultural center and jazz mecca… the church agreed to sell its land to citibank for $9 million under strict conditions: the bank would build a new church structure “physically separate” from the office tower. moreover, the “air space above approximately two-thirds of the footprint of the new church would remain open” and “no element of the tower would encroach on or interfere with the church building below…”

a good deal for the church if you ask me, granted the building almost collapsed on their heads, but in the end, it didn’t… and they got 9 million dollars, a brand new designer church building, and had the balls to ask for more. i guess when when you got god on your side nothing seems to be f%$#ing enough!!! read more on this here. by uh