One of Manhattan’s tallest and ritziest towers is full of cracks — and some engineers reportedly fear chunks of concrete could rain down on the Midtown sidewalks if a $160 million renovation isn’t undertaken.
The white concrete facade of 432 Park Ave. — the nearly 1,400-foot, 96-floor “Billionaires’ Row” tower that reaches high above Midtown’s skyline — has been splitting, fissuring and left with pieces missing since it was completed in 2015, an alarming study from the New York Times found Sunday.
And the problem is so bad that the supertall skyscraper could be left “uninhabitable” if a major restoration isn’t completed soon, one expert told the outlet.
“Chunks of concrete will fall off, and windows will start loosening up,” structural engineer Steve Bongiorno explained, cautioning water could begin seeping into the cracks and destroying the building from the inside out.
“You can’t take the elevators, mechanical systems start to fail, pipe joints start to break and you get water leaks all over the place,” Bongiorno said.
“The building just becomes uninhabitable.”
432 Park Ave.’s 125 units — which command stunning views of Central Park, the Big Apple and beyond and have acces to a private restaurant — hit $2.5 billion in sales to celebrities like Jennifor Lopez, Alex Rodriguez and Saudi royalty just three years after its unveiling.
Available apartments range from a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath on the 52nd floor for $10.5 million to a palatial six-bedroom abode with six full baths and two half-baths for a staggering $55 million, according to StreetEasy.
However, the stunning building has been plagued by problems for several years.
Residents have complained that the superall sways in the wind and groans like a ship at sea, and that leaks, power outages and elevator problems have persisted since they moved in.
Those problems have led to ongoing legal battles between the building’s board and developers, including Macklowe Properties, WSP and CIM Group.
But the facade problems were reportedly known risks while the building was still under construction — with the striking white concrete selected being prone to cracking. The developers went ahead anyway because they were determined not to compromise on their design vision, the Times reported.
“They are going down a dangerous and slippery path that I believe will eventually lead to failure and lawsuits to come,” Jim Herr, firm director of one of the building’s chief designers Rafael Viñoly, said in a 2012 email obtained by the Times.
It was one of several in a thread where designers and engineers quibbled over the white concrete, with some arguing that it would become a problem down the road, while others stubbornly insisted on using the troublesome material without compromise.
“Color or cracks,” read another email on the thread from a WSP engineer, explaining there were two options, according to the Times.
Photos from the exterior of 432 Park Ave. show numerous cracks in the concrete facade, many of which appear to have been mended or filled in.
But in some places entire chunks of the facade — from extremely high floors — appear to have broken from the structure.
It is common for “small amounts of loose materials” to be removed from facades during inspections, the Department of Buildings told the Times, noting that 432 Park Ave. has passed inspections and has not been found to have unsafe conditions.
The DOB’s last facade inspection at 432 Park Ave. was in 2023, the agency said.
Building residents have been looking into repairs, with emails obtained by the Times showing a three-year $160 million overhaul that would repair current damage and bolster against future problems is on the table.
432 Park Ave. appears to have been entirely up to code, the Times reported — adding that there no risks of a collapse.
Still, some engineers are alarmed by how much appears to have happened to the building in just 10 years facing the elements, according to the Times.
“A 10-year-old building should not be showing that level of deterioration,” said Jose Torero, an engineering expert at the University College London.
And Bongiorno fears innocent passersby on the streets below might be the ones who get hurt if something isn’t done.
“The building is being stressed beyond what was intended,” Bongiorno said. “There’s no sidewalk shed that’s going to protect you from chunks of concrete popping off a 1,400-foot building.”
Macklowe Properties and WSP did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
CIM Group called the damage reports and need for repairs “baseless” in a statement to the Times, and said allegations that developers ignored problems were “categorically untrue, defamatory and yet another misstep by the board that will drive down property values.”
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