The Donald on Crane Dangers
Real Estate Mogul Says Even He Doesn't Like to Walk Under Construction Sites
Real estate mogul Donald Trump says that even he worries when walking around construction sites because many of the cranes used are old and poorly maintained.
Trump was interviewed today for ABC News' "20/20" following the second fatal crane collapse in New York City this spring.
"I'm one of the biggest builders in the world, and I tell you I hate to walk under construction sites," Trump said. "You can be safe, you can do everything you can do, but construction is a very complex and dangerous business."
New York's trendy SoHo district is the home of one of Trump's current hotel construction sites, which received one of New York City's 128 crane safety violations this year.
"We built a series of many, many buildings from 72nd Street all the way down the Hudson River, and we never had a problem, and yet we did have one problem in SoHo," Trump said. "I've got a great track record, one of the best, but it's a dangerous business."
Trump said he believes New York City just seems to be having a run of bad luck with cranes. "I'm doing buildings elsewhere, and many cranes are being shipped over to other parts of the world," Trump said, noting that he is also working on a new building in Dubai. "So I'm not sure if New York City is getting the best cranes, but to have a crane topple the way it did in New York City is an amazing thing."
Today's crane collapse on Manhattan's Upper East Side killed at least two people and was the second such collapse in two months for the city. Today's accident put the popular New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the defensive. "This is unacceptable and intolerable," said the mayor following today's accident. "Having said that, I do not at the moment know exactly what happened and why."
Deadly crane accidents can be caused by very simple triggers such as high winds, a bad bolt or a one-inch shift in the base.
"They are big, they are strong, they are powerful, they can lift tremendous payloads, and they are dangerous," said Trump. "If a crane is an inch off, it gets dangerous. And you know you're talking about a crane that can go up 60 stories."
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