Thursday, August 23, 2007

"Who is John Galt?"

This is a phrase I'm hearing a lot these days--and not because I've ever read Ayn Rand's book. (Though it is on my list.) I've walked by the name John Galt every day on my way to and from work. Perhaps if I had read the novel it would have caught my eye, but instead I, like most everyone else, walked right by it without a second, third, or forty-sixth glance.

The name John Galt appears on a sign outside the building next door to mine. The building that is not currently being taken down, as there is a stop-work order pending the investigation of the fire last Saturday. John Galt appears just below and to the right of the name Bovis. Now that name I do recognize. It is, after all, nearly twice the size of John Galt's name on the sign. When the building was scheduled to be taken down, the contract was finally awarded to Bovis Lend Lease, who then sub-contracted John Galt to do the actual demolition.

But who is John Galt?

We'd like to believe he's a visionary engineer and inventor, as in Rand's novel. The savior of mankind. Rather, it turns out that the deeper meaning of the question in the context of the everyman's helplessness in Rand's book is more correct--"Don't ask important questions, because we don't have answers."

There aren’t a whole lot of records, public or private, that explain who John Galt is. There is no record of employees, no record of clients, no record of past projects, or even current projects. In fact, it seems that the only reason to believe that John Galt is even a real firm is that it appears, just below Bovis, on the sign outside of 130 Liberty St.

As the investigations into what went wrong with the fire on Saturday continue, more and more damning details are emerging. The standpipe that failed to bring water up to the floors that were burning? Disconnected in the basement. The fire-resistant plywood (wood?) that was supposed to seal off the floors from each other? Burned quickly and efficiently, spreading the fire to nearly ten floors. John Galt, the firm doing the work?

Not exactly.

In reality, the workers doing the work, the experts, and the managers are all from the Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company, which even shares its address with John Galt. The Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company has never demolished a skyscraper before, as their name might suggest. The executives running the show are from the Safeway Environmental Corporation, which was already removed from a 130 Liberty St. contract because of questions about its integrity. John Galt is a facade, behind which these less qualified and less honest companies hide. And just in case you were wondering, Safeway lost its earlier contract on the building because it was hiding information that one of its owners was a convicted Gambino family associate. Oops.

But, with a 41-story skyscraper, years vacant since it was damaged beyond repair and filled with toxic chemicals, dust, and mold, no one else wanted the job of taking it down. There were a few contractors bidding for it, but all but one were eliminated for various reasons. When it came down to it, it was Bovis with the contract, and only the mysterious John Galt actually asking to do the work.

Now as the city wades through the mire of under the table agreements, failed inspections, and hidden information, the building is once again sitting and waiting for its end.

Read more here.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Fire in the Sky



The building on the left with the arched windows is where I live. This was in response to the seven-alarm fire on Saturday that raged through the old Deutsche Bank building next door.

In the picture below, my building is the one on the right, with the copper roof.



Fortunately for me, I was out of the city this weekend. When I got home, I found all the streets surrounding my building closed off to only NYPD, FDNY, OEM, and those of us who lived there. Although they let my fiancé, a guest, and myself through without question when we first arrived last night, I had to show ID to the police when I went to grab some food for breakfast this morning. And again when I left for work this morning. An investigation is on-going, though the streets are nearly cleaned up, and life has resumed. The main concern now is air quality in the area, although all of the emergency officials are walking around without masks.

Two firefighters lost their lives fighting this fire. Many of their colleagues were lost six years ago across the street. May they rest in peace.

The New York Times has a slide show here.

Coincidentally, on Friday the Times had a slide show of how the building is being dismantled.

This building has had a troubled history these last several years. It was irreparably damaged on September 11th, 2001, and was left vacant while the workers cleaned up the area around it. In that time, the water from putting out the fires combined with the chemicals released by the collapse of the towers to create a toxic and moldy environment throughout the building. As a result, the building was condemned to be taken down floor-by-floor, with air quality regulators and inspectors making sure that none of this material escaped to the rest of the neighborhood. For the last year, crews have been cleaning out the interior, and the main dismantling began back in February. Originally 41 floors, the building now stands at 26 floors, and will remain that way until the work crews can continue pending the investigation of the fire.

For now, I see a shell of a building out my window. Broken windows, collapsed scaffolding, and the eerie hulk of a building that should already have been put out of its misery by now.

Photos from the NYT wesite, www.nytimes.com

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Rain, that Arch-Nemesis of Transportation

Of course, I slept through it all, but there were very high winds and even reports of funnel clouds over Brooklyn. What I woke up to, though, was simply a 102 year old subway system that was completely shut down. Utter chaos ensued. With no subway service, and barely functioning commuter trains, Manhattan was inundated with cars all trying to cram themselves in. And all the busses were similarly crammed with people trying to get to work.

When I first joined the masses at the bus stop, we all watched as three over-full busses went by without even stopping. Then two more came by where I couldn't get on. Finally, I was able to stand on the bottom step, just as the doors were closing. Seeing some space further in, I quietly asked the lady next to me if she would move in a little to give the rest of us some space. Some guy thought I was referring to him, and started yelling about how rude I was being. Then another guy started yelling at the first for yelling at me.

By the way, thanks. You got pushed toward the back, and I was pushed toward the front, so I never got to thank you in person.



Yet, all of this begs the question; how has a subway system over one hundred years old not yet learned to deal with rain?