Safety order stops Trump
Unsafe concrete has caused building inspectors to stop work on Riverside South, the massive Hong Kong-backed development on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
The Department of Buildings issued a stop order on one of the first two towers of the 30-hectare project, causing another headache for developer Donald Trump, its manager.
The action adds to pressure on Mr Trump, whose ownership of the debt-ridden project was bought out in 1994 by a consortium including New World Development's Cheng Yu-tung and Shui On Construction's Vincent Lo.
Numerous lawsuits by residents opposing the project and difficulties arranging a bond issue to help finance it, delayed the start of construction until early this year.
The Hong Kong businessmen are understood to be impatient for some of the units to reach the market so they can see a return on their investment.
City officials blocked further construction on one of the 46-storey apartment towers after discovering that concrete slabs under the fifth floor were too weak to support the upper floors.
Construction company HRH had completed the first 20 floors of the structure, continuing to build for two months after becoming aware of the defects, The New York Times reported.
Madeleine Polayes, president of the coalition which has been fighting the project for several years, said: 'This is outrageous. How could they keep building if they knew there were problems with the concrete?' Housing Commissioner Gaston Silva said: 'This situation was caught in time. Had they built 10 more storeys, it would have been a dangerous situation. They're now working to develop a solution.' He said the offending concrete would have to be jackhammered out and replaced.
One engineer said the cost of the reworking could reach US$1 million.
A spokesman for the project said the repairs would take 'a week or two'.
The problem does not affect the second tower which is being built by a different construction firm.
