Movin' on Up!--Construction Update #1

Across the street, construction of the 35-story condominium building continues.  (Earlier blog post,11/17/2015.)

While progress is occurring, it is hard to see and seems slow.  Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day and who wants to live in a hastily constructed high-rise?

The new building will have retail at street level and underground.  Plus, building systems require a subbasement.  What that means is you have to dig deep before you can build skyward.  To dig deep requires reinforcing the foundations of the two adjoining buildings, one of which is about a century old.  Plus, the ground under the adjacent sidewalks and streets needs a stronger foundation.  

The first photo below shows the construction site in November 2015, shortly after the last buildings on the site were demolished.  In the photo, a lone excavator starts digging downward.

200 East 59th Street, NYC (11/2/2015)

After 6 weeks of excavating and pouring concrete foundations, the site has descended about one story (photo below).

200 East 59th Street, NYC (12/11/2015)

After two additional months (photo below), the site has descended two more stories.  If you look closely, you can see that excavation has reached bedrock.  The bedrock is Manhattan Schist.  In many places on the island, bedrock is at the surface or not far below.  Manhattan Schist is what makes all the NYC skyscrapers possible--a strong foundation for buildings that ascend hundreds of feet skyward.

At this point, the excavation equipment is hammering into bedrock, which makes for some noise and dust and excellent spectating, if you like that sort of thing.

200 East 59th Street, NYC (2/18/2016)

P.S.  How are they going to get the excavation equipment out of the hole?