Contractors made construction history last weekend when they used a massive crane to lift another, smaller crane to the top of the new Tiffany flagship store at 727 Fifth Avenue.
This is only the fourth time in New York City construction history that a crane has lifted a crane onto the roof of a building.
The mobile crane will be used to continue transformation of the store. It will help build the upper addition (floors 8, 9, and 10) of the 10-story building from office space into an exhibition, event and client space.
The giant 105-ton Liebherr LTM1500 crane, with help from a Tadano 450 crane and eight large trucks serving as counterweights, lifted a mobile LTM1130 crane weighing approximately 66 tons seven stories over 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Construction on the property that has served as the cornerstone of Manhattan’s most fashionable shopping district since 1940 began in January 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in spring 2022, unveiling a re-envisioned interior and an expansive glass façade that opens up to an outdoor terrace on the upper levels.
Architecture firm OMA designed the renovation, which reimagines the retail experience while preserving the historic identity of the original building.
Photos by Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tiffany & Co.