Building 877, Governors Island, New York Harbor
7.36am, Sunday, 9 June 2013

At 7.36 this morning, building 877 on Governors Island was leveled in a controlled implosion, the first to take place in New York City since 2001. Since I had never seen a building implosion before, I figured it would be worth waking up at 5.00am on a Sunday morning and making my way to the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan. I thought that the ferry, which would be passing Governors Island at about the time of the implosion, might provide the best view. And I’m pretty sure I was right, though standing on a rocking boat using a handheld camcorder made for an unsteady picture. But here it is: video I recorded of the implosion, from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry.

The implosion itself begins with a series of explosions. Eight seconds after the explosions begin, the building systematically collapses from left to right (east to west). The building, which had stood for 45 years, came down in ten seconds.

Building 877 was the tallest building on the island, an 11-story nonhistoric structure that was last used in 1996 to house members of the Coast Guard and their families. It came down to make way for park space in the ongoing redevelopment of the former military installation.