Workers Rattled as One Vanderbilt Shakes

People inside One Vanderbilt, a 93-story office tower adjacent to Grand Central, reported that the building had been shaking. Inspectors from the NYC Department of Buildings were quickly dispatched.  The NY Post quoted workers as saying it felt like the floor had dropped five feet and continued to bounce. 

SL Green, which owns the property, issued this statement:

“Today an exterior elevator at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt malfunctioned while mechanics were performing maintenance, causing a vibration to be felt in the building. SUMMIT was closed to the public at the time, no one was injured and there is no danger to the building or its occupants.”

The Buildings Department later issued its own report saying, “Upon our arrival at the scene, it was determined that three elevator mechanics were performing work inside of the observation elevator, which is located on the exterior at the top of the building. While performing a software update on the elevator device, the elevator car dropped approximately three stories, landing at the bottom of the elevator at the 93rd floor.”

Officials say when the elevator dropped it impacted a set of springs meant to catch the elevator car in situations like this.  The preliminary investigation concluding that the impact of the elevator car on the springs may have caused people in other areas of the building to feel shaking, adding that at this time there are “no structural stability concerns.”  ABC News reported that three workers were injured in the incident.