Problems of the Wealthy: New York City Condo High Rise Problems

The New York Times (Feb 3) has an interesting article (at least for me) about living in one of the tallest residential buildings in the city. The building at 432 Park Avenue is 1,400 feet and was built for the ultra wealthy. There are some potentially long-term (some are probably short-term) problems with the building:

Six years later, residents of the exclusive tower are now at odds with the developers, and each other, making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living. The claims include millions of dollars of water damage from plumbing and mechanical issues; frequent elevator malfunctions; and walls that creak like the galley of a ship — all of which may be connected to the building’s main selling point: its immense height, according to homeowners, engineers and documents obtained by The New York Times.

. . . All buildings sway in the wind, but at exceptional heights, those forces are stronger. A management email explained that “a high-wind condition” stopped an elevator and caused a resident to be “entrapped” on the evening of Oct. 31, 2019, for an hour and 25 minutes. Wind sway can cause the cables in the elevator shaft to slap around and lead to slowdowns or shutdowns, according to an engineer who asked not to be named, because he has worked on other towers in New York with similar issues.

. . . Residents at 432 Park complained of creaking, banging and clicking noises in their apartments, and a trash chute “that sounds like a bomb” when garbage is tossed, according to notes from a 2019 owners’ meeting.

In 2020, I re-watched The Towering Inferno. Reading this article reminded me of that movie. Just need a massive water leak to interfere with electrical systems and maybe the whole building goes up in flames . . . unlikely. 

The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet high (excluding the antenna) and was finished in 1931. One World Trade Center is 1,776 feet high and was finished in 2015. The Twin Towers were 1,355 feet high and was finished in 1973. Dubai has a residential building of similar height, the Princess Tower at 1,358 feet and finished in 2012 (just as 432 Park Avenue construction was beginning). You have all these tall buildings and 432 Park Avenue is having issues that I'd think would be known and require solving. Elevator malfunctions. Walls that creak due to high winds. Either these issues were obvious to occur or the construction company stinks? Right? Maybe the plumbing wasn't a known issue as I'm sure a residential building requires much more plumbing than a commercial high rise.   

But . . . . doing a Google Search, maybe these issues were known all the way back in June 2013 when the Daily Mail reported about issues at the Princess Tower and how residents who lived above the 50th floor (there are 97 residential floors) had to briefly walk up to their homes. Of course, that is the only article I could find about issues with the Princess Tower so perhaps the problems at 432 Park Avenue are largely temporary -- though I suppose they'll always have to deal with the creaking sounds of ghosts. If not, maybe 432 Park Avenue homes can be turned into smaller sized apartments and those with wealth below the 0.1% can enjoy some nice views.