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The crane collapse May 30, 2008 at the construction site for Azure, a 32-story residential condominium building at 331 East 91st Street, that killed two persons and seriously injured another, has led the city to halt work at four other residential construction sites.

The crane crashed into a 23-story apartment building at 354 East 91st Street, forcing residents from their homes and causing damage to 45 of the 169 apartments in that building.

The crane that crashed as a Kodiak crane and the Department of Buildings issued stop-work orders at sites where 7 other Kodiak cranes were in use. Those sites are the Laurel at 400 East 67th Street, 808 Columbus Avenue, 123 Washington Street and 245 Tenth Avenue.

The Azure, which also has the address of 1765 First Avenue, is part of a mixed-use project that will include a 520-seat Middle School 114 that is being developed by the city's Educational Construction Fund.

The DeMatteis Organization is the developer and James Davidson of SCLE Architects is the designer of the tower.

The building will have 128 apartments, according to documents on file with the Department of Buildings.
Architecture Critic Carter Horsley Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.