This NYC Skyscraper Almost Collapsed😱

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]This New York skyscraper was once considered the most dangerous building in America and engineers believed it [music] could collapse. So, how is it still standing today? This is the Citicorp Center completed in 1977, [music] but just 1 year later an undergraduate engineering student questioned part of the building's design. [music] That question led to a terrifying discovery. Engineers realized the tower could be dangerously vulnerable to powerful winds hitting its corners. [music] In the worst case scenario, a major storm could bring the entire skyscraper down and here's what makes the story even crazier. The building's lead engineer knew [music] it, but the thousands of people working inside the tower had no idea. The entire crisis was kept secret while officials quietly [music] prepared an emergency evacuation plan for parts of Manhattan.

[00:00:43]Then, night after [music] night repair crews secretly entered the building and welded massive steel plates onto its structure telling the public it was only routine maintenance. [music] Thankfully, the repairs worked and nearly 50 years later the Citicorp Center is still standing all because one student decided to ask a question.