Limited Police Escorts Available For Residents, Hotel Guests Evacuated Near Midtown Dangling Crane

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- City officials were making progress Thursday in assessing the partially collapsed crane that has been dangling high above West 57th Street since Monday.

The city said inspections were completed. Officials were next going over plans to secure it.

The call came in around 2:30 p.m. Monday at the One57 Building, a luxury condo tower under construction at 157 W. 57th St. The top of the crane, about 75 stories up, could be seen dangling precariously down off of the luxury building.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the time all buildings on the north and south sides of 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, and all exposed buildings on 56th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, were evacuated.

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The city Department of Emergency Management announced Thursday afternoon that residents and hotel guests who were forced to evacuate due to the crane collapse may be escorted into the buildings by the NYPD to retrieve "absolute necessities," such as medication.

The NYPD was conducting limited escorts into the vacated buildings.

Residents were asked to arrange access to the building with their building managers while hotel guests were asked to meet the NYPD at the corner of West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue.

The city decided not to send up any engineers or fire inspectors until winds died down.

Steam was also shut off in the vicinity of the crane, and water and gas shutdowns were in progress Monday evening "as a preventive measure to mitigate damage if the boom from the crane were to collapse and fall to the street," Bloomberg said.

The One57 is a 1,004-foot tower that, once completed, will be New York City's tallest residential building.

One57 is touted as an ultra-luxurious tower, with one penthouse selling for $90 million.