08/25/2025
Currently, 1 Seaport sulks over the East River, its grim façade visible from the Brooklyn Bridge, the Wall Street heliport, and the N.Y.P.D.’s headquarters. Though imperceptible to the naked eye, the tower is tilted. In 2016, the building was proposed to be 60 stories of upscale urban living, at the edge of the financial district. How did the project go sideways?
Since the end of the 19th century, skyscrapers in the financial district have been built using “pile” foundations, which anchor the buildings to the earth. The developer behind 1 Seaport went for a different type of foundation—one which would cost six million dollars less, but came with some risks. An engineering consultant produced a report that warned that the method could lead to “differential settlements.” In other words, the structure might lean.
Indeed, on April 17, 2018, the building’s construction firm received a fateful memo: “The building is leaning 3 inches to the north.” But rather than pausing to fix what had already been done, an attempt was made to “straighten the thing out in midair,” Eric Lach writes. Higher floors were intentionally poured out of alignment, in the opposite direction. “Your Honor,” an attorney involved in a 1 Seaport lawsuit later explained to a judge, “it’s shaped like a banana right now.”
Work on 1 Seaport stopped in July, 2020, and it has not resumed. The ensuing web of 1 Seaport lawsuits—there are now more than two dozen—continues to wind through Manhattan’s civil courts. Though structural engineers have determined over the years that the structure at 161 Maiden Lane is unlikely to topple over, the project known as 1 Seaport collapsed long ago. “No broker in the world can sell a leaning tower at $2,400 per square foot,” Lach writes. Read his full report: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/CKTsbt
