Spinning Midtown crane gets stop work order

Round and round it went atop one of the city’s tallest skyscrapers — and it was “unacceptable” when the spinning crane’s ball-and-hook slammed into 111 W. 57th St. and sent big pieces of metal down onto Sixth Avenue, city officials said Friday.

The contractor, JDS Construction Group, was issued a stop work order and given a violation for failing to safeguard the Midtown Manhattan site on Thursday night, when high winds from remnants of Hurricane Zeta caused the crane to “weathervane” or whip around in circles.

“We have stopped all work at the project, except operations to secure the site and make it safe,” said Andrew Rudansky, a spokesman for the city Department of Buildings, which issued the violation and stop work order.

“New York City has the strongest crane regulation in the country in place to protect the public, and an incident like this is unacceptable.”

The departent says cranes are supposed to spin in high winds to prevent wind resistance.

But the heavy ball-and-hook at the end of the hoist cable — which is also known as a “headache ball” — was also swinging wildly and smashed into the building.

JDS Construction could be facing a $25,000 fine, city officials said. The contractor could also face more violations as the investigation continues.

A call and an email to JDS Construction Group for comment were not returned.

Department of Buildings inspectors and engineers were back at the 85-story, 1,428-foot tall building Friday to figure out how the mishap occurred. Surrounding streets were still blocked off by police.

The surreal sight terrified witnesses, especially since a crane on the same block collapsed during Hurricane Sandy eight years earlier.

“Everybody was running, and when I looked up, the crane was spinning. It was spinning in circles and it was ripping off pieces of the building,” witness Michael Illes-cash said Thursday. The 29-yearold handyman works at a nearby building on W. 56th St.

“Its hook was ripping off pieces of the building. All the pieces, big metal pieces, were coming down.”

Two massive pieces of debris, which included a 20-foot long hunk of metal, struck the street, but no injuries were reported.