A rendering of 50 West 66th Street
The FDNY received a call about a 700-gallon diesel fuel spill on Tuesday at a bit past 7:00 p.m. at an Upper West Side construction site near Central Park.
The location of the spill was 36 West 66th Street, one of several parcels which will be the future site of Extell Development‘s controversial 50 West 66th Street.
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The cause of the leak at the new development was not clear, but the FDNY said hazmat crews arrived and the leak was capped and is being mitigated. No injuries were reported.
The forthcoming 70-story, 775-foot residential condominium has faced steady opposition from groups including Landmark West! for using mechanical voids to prop apartments further into the sky to provide more desirable views and command higher price tags.
“One major elephant in the room is that there is not enough oversight on these projects,” said Sean Khorsandi, Executive Director of Landmark West! “Developers are always rushing construction, and accidents happen. Earlier during excavation, some heavy equipment flipped over, yet they just kept digging. Sadly, without community check-ins which the developer has declined, the community learns more about what is happening right in front of them from the news reports.”
We’ve reached out to Extell for comment and will provide an update if and when they write back to us.
How many gallons of diesel fuel does one of these mega tower construction sites usually have on hand?
I realize I’m assuming here that someone didn’t run a forklift into the sidewall and suddenly rupture tank: But aren’t there alarms that sound if the tank is leaking?
Would also be good to know how common leaks/spills of more than say half a gallon of diesel fuel are on similar construction sites.
At least it wasn’t gasoline, which sparks ignite easily.
This is sloppy construction site supervision. Does make one wonder if the Bloomberg tower crane collapses will make a return.
A friend of mine was walking there at that time and her coat and hair were covered in oil. She said she thought it was a rain shower – it was that hard.
Wondering if there should be a pressure alarm of some sort
And these are the people who self certify that all the rules and regulations have been followed and that the building is up to code.
I believe this monster was ‘sanctioned’ by Rosenthal and Stringer..
All local electeds including Stringer and both Rosenthals opposed this construction. https://www.landmarkwest.org/all-local-electeds-agree-revoke-permits-for-50-west-66th-street/ The BSA gave the green light for its construction. For a more complete discussion of this project and public advocacy to stop it see the LANDMARK WEST website at
https://www.landmarkwest.org/36west66/
Thank you..I stand corrected…
In a new article, the WSR is saying the spill 70 gallons not 700.
How about an update here that confirms that significant revision.