West Side Highway COLLAPSED!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!

[Beetwasher]

A fucking retaining wall collapsed near W. 181st St.!!!! Fucking massive collapse!!!!!

Live on local news now. (NYC)

[Bouncy Ball]

1. Uh, where do you live?

I have no idea where you are talking about.

[Beetwasher]

2. NYC

They don't know if anyone's trapped underneath...

[brook]

6. New York City n/t

[Pithy Cherub]

8. That can only be New York City.

Have visited enough to recognize freeway names.

[Renew Deal]

48. You should already know.

This is NY fer crissakes.

[Bouncy Ball]

50. Are you being ugly?

When he posted that, I checked his profile. No location.

Someone who is unfamiliar with NY would not know the street names he posted. If he had named some more well-known streets, I would have known.

Excuse me for asking.

[Renew Deal]

53. It's a joke.

As you know, NYC is the center of the universe. Don't be pissed at me for forgetting that. ;)

[Bouncy Ball]

54. Oh sorry!

:toast:

[Blue Belle]

56. No kidding...

I live on the West Coast and the only part of New York I have seen is Manhattan. I don't expect everyone to know what the "Banfield" is... so when I post I make sure to give a little more information then just a sentence. It's not inappropriate to ask for clarification...

[stopbush]

61. The original poster had it wrong.

The West Side Hwy runs from the Battery up to 57th Street (its official name is the Joe DeMaggio Hwy, BTW) where it becomes the Henry Hudson Pkwy. This landslide occured above the GW Bridge...which is no where near the West Side Hwy. The Henry Hudson Pkwy runs north from 57th along the Hudson River until near the Riverdale/Yonkers border where it changes over to the Moshulu (heading east) and Saw Mill (heading north) Pkwys.

I drove the thing for years, and I always considered the WSH to be that part of the road that started at 57th on the river and went south from there. It used to be elevated, but it's all at ground level now.

See here:

http://www.nycroads.com/exits/west-side/

[Goldmund]

3. Fuck!

Post a link as soon as you find one -- I'll do the same

Edit: is that the exit to GW? Or is that 191st?

[mcscajun]

30. I'm watching the live coverage on CBS news Channel 2 out of NYC

(I'm in NJ).

It's just past the ramps for the GWB, where the road goes by Ft. Tryon Park (where The Cloisters is). The hill rises quite a ways up above the roadway in that stretch.

Damnation! I used to live not too far from there, I drove on that road a lot. This is one Helluva Mess!

[Goldmund]

36. I drive that road all the time.

I live near the last stop of 1/9.

Thanks for the info -- so it's the Cloisters.

[Deja Q]

4. Is it...could it... might it be...

TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM TERRORISM


:crazy:

It's an act of God. But I'm surprised God hasn't been called a terrorist. They've done the same regarding Jesus though.

[BlueStateGirl]

5. Looking at the pics on MSNBC now. No injuries reported.

[musette_sf]

13. WINS doesn't have it as a story

but the traffic report is as follows:

Bulletins NB HENRY HUDSON PKWY +CLOSED+ FROM THE GWB TO DYCKMAN ST - ++MASSIVE DEBRIS/DIRT SLIDE FOLLOWING A WALL COLLAPSE++ NEAR 181ST ST. TRAFFIC HEAVY FROM THE 50'S TO THE WATER TREATMENT, THEN ALL TRAFFIC IS DIVERTED AT THE SPLIT FOR THE GWB/CROSS BRONX.

[Bethany Rockafella]

7. earthquake?

[kenny blankenship]

11. Umm RUST ? Maybe? Bad mob supplied concrete ?

Decaying national transportation infrastructure chronically ignored by Republicans since Eisenhower left office?

[Zodiak]

34. Mob concrete....lol

hahah!!! Mob concrete was the first thing I thought, too. The landslide comes a-tumbling down and BAM!...there's Jimm Hoffa laying on top of a crushed parked car, right next to Al Capone's missing millions.

I wouldn't think it was so funny except that no one was hurt. No blood? The let the jokes fly.

[MsTryska]

43. *lmao*

as an ex-new yorker i was thinkign the same thing.


to be honest - i'm surprised the 59th st bridge is still up and working.

[freethought]

9. Who built it? Halliburton/KBR? n/t

[bertha katzenengel]

19. hilarious

You and others with a similar sense of humor must be too young to remember the 89 SF earthquake.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

Well...

Commuting to and from the northern suburbs just became a lot more interesting.

[sabra]

10. Live video here:

http://wnbc.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=20332

[paula777]

23. that video link is about re-designing the freedom tower

[Lavender Brown]

12. Jeez Louise.

:scared:

[TNOE]

14. This is going to start happening everywhere

there is NO money for bridge repair, highways, etc. - I'm looking for the main bridge from Ky to Ohio to fall in the river any day now too.

[zalinda]

55. Except in Alaska

apparently, he gets lots of money for bridges to no where.

zalinda

[blm]

15. Focking Republican governor who doesn't spend $$$ on INFRASTRUCTURE.

Giuliani didn't pay attention to infrastructure, either, unless it was a neighborhood he liked.

[Deja Q]

28. Spread that info to the locals.

If this is New York, your guv's currently low rating will sink even farther.

Remind them come next election day too.

[SmokingJacket]

29. True, take a look around NY state...

Everything is rotting.

[uppityperson]

16. another link here to story, pictures

http://www.wnbc.com/traffic/4482870/detail.html

[lonestarnot]

57. Damn!

[rockedthevoteinMA]

17. Didn't the pretzeldent threaten to veto the highway bill too?

asshat.

[CottonBear]

31. Is the wall in the Right-of-Way or on private property?

I'm just asking because construction supervision and maintenance would have be done either by the government (city or the local DOT)or by a private contractor.

[slackmaster]

18. Damn, I thought stuff like that only happened in California

My condolences to people stuck in traffic in NYC this evening.

:hi:

[Bluebear]

20. HOLY CANOLLI!!!! As our infrastructure crumbles....

[DrDebug]

21. Thank God there are no injuries

Nature showed again what power it has

[Bouncy Ball]

24. I just watched live feed from WNBC and they are saying they

don't know if there are any injuries yet.

[Cooley Hurd]

22. Henry Hudson Parkway affected - watching NY1 now...

That's definitely a big slide - wow!

On edit: Aerial view of area affected (just north of the GWB):

[Oreo]

25. Looks more like a landslide

Parkway Retaining Wall Collapses In Upper Manhattan

POSTED: 4:26 pm EDT May 12, 2005
UPDATED: 4:57 pm EDT May 12, 2005

NEW YORK -- A retaining wall along the Henry Hudson Parkway in upper Manhattan collapsed on Thursday afternoon, burying parked cars.

[Bouncy Ball]

26. They were saying there are a lot of underground springs in the

Washington Heights area.....those were the newscasters I was quoting, can't confirm or deny that.

[Bluebear]

27. Notice this doesn't warrant live coverage by CNN, Fox, etc...

Must. Push. Bolton.

[napi21]

32. On MSNBC right now. n/t

[mcscajun]

33. Well, it's Only NYC. We know the rest of the country doesn't care about it

At least, that was the sense I always got, growing up there.

[musette_sf]

37. that's what *

was counting on, a while back...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

41. they haven't gotten the memos on how to spin it yet

there will be a special report on it tomorrow morning on Fox and MSNBC soon as they get the talking points. Look forward to Imus putting pills in his mouth and mumbling about "how about that highway..rahrrr.rrrrmmmm <inaudible>?" The show will be sponsored by Coca-Cola, GMC and others

the highway collapse will be Clinton's fault by tomorrow at 5:11pmEST. The show will be sponsored by Coca-Cola, GMC and Pfister.


By Saturday morning the highway collapse will be tied in with a Wrath of God segment on Fox, that will ask if the apocalypse is nigh , and asking the provocative question if these acts are the result of the "Godlessness of the liberal heathen" (with Rita Cosby and Candy Kruller in an unprecedented CNN/FOX partnership exclusive - combined with a no-holds-barred hot-dog eating contest) the show will be sponsored by Best Buy, GMC, Lexus, Pfister and Universal Studios.

[leveymg]

35. Did they find Jimmy Hoffa? n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

40. That's on the other side of the Hudson...

...and, despite Adam Savage & Jamie Hyneman's best efforts, he remains missing...;)

[stellanoir]

38. further proof of our crumbling infrastructure

Oh joy

[fryguy]

39. My wife is stuck in CRAZY traffic on the Henry Hudson

calling me to try and figure out a way around the mess.....

[Stephanie]

42. She should turn off and come back downtown

and park and take the train.

[fryguy]

44. that's just what she's doing

i'm on speaker phone with her right now

[mcscajun]

45. A hotel room in Midtown wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

It's gonna be a mess for hours.

[fryguy]

47. we have an apartment on the UWS - so she's in good shape

[mcscajun]

51. That's great!

Doncha just love our own little rapid-response unit here on DU?

:)

[fryguy]

59. certainly comes in handy!

it was great, i was on the phone with her at work (home now) tyring to figure out how she could get past the mess by using b'way. realized that would be a waste of time, so she got off at 158, made an illegal U-turn and got on the south bound lane. best thing was that as she did it she said there was a cop right behind her; didn't pull her over though - guess at times such as that the rules are looked at as advisory only :)

[Goldmund]

49. I suppose Riverside is out of the question?

[BurtWorm]

52. It looks like it collapsed on Riverside too.

It's going to be hell for people to get home.

Now I'm glad I live in my puny Upper West Side apt.

[housewolf]

46. Hmmmm,.. and the senate is debating the HIGHWAY BILL this week????

Interesting....

[Taxloss]

58. Report with links and picture:

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/05/12/dirtslide_on_the_henry_hudson_parkway.php

[Jack_DeLeon]

60. When I went to NY two summers ago...

I dont think I passed through that area but at the time I did think the walls along the roads did look a bit shabby.

I remember seeing some chain link type fence stapled into some of the walls with bolts presumable to hold it together and atleast keep some of the loose rocks from falling into the roads.

[KoKo]

62. I love the West Side Highway...but it's been in total disrepair since John

Lindsay was Mayor and so I'm not surprised it collapsed. I think it was the WPA (during the Depression 1930's) that built it...and it was the best way to get out of Manhattan, long ago when I lived there.

There's no money for repairs...NYC has constantly dissed WSH.

Sad...awful..