What is involved in Craning in NYC

Design and Installation
Written By Peter Morris

The Dream

 

A fabulous design by Plant Specialists for a fabulous spot !

 

So you have a fabulous plan in place -  hopefully done by the talented team at Plant Specialists ! Your friends are green with envy at the space you are creating ! Then you realize that your trees and furniture are not going to fit in that service elevator. Aghhhhh !

What to do what to do!! - Crane it all up !!!

 

The Reality

 

Craning is an expensive and time consuming option.  Just the concept of closing down a street ( or half of a street ) you already have an inkling that this would be the case. Let alone one of the busiest cities in the world.

 

The street closure 

 

The building needs to give you permission to crane and they will have many rules to abide by to protect the building, other tenants and pedestrians.

The city needs to issue you a permit to close down a portion of the street.  It will be time specific - usually by the half day - and most likely on a weekend when there is less traffic to be disrupted. The date is usually non negotiable.

The crane companies book months in advance so before booking a day - you need to check availability with the craning company as well.

 

A craning engineer doing a lift test

 

The building will want insurance certificates - and you should want them as well. This is dangerous work, the professional craning companies do it each and every day.  But things can go wrong - a storm, heavy gust of wind etc. all play havoc with the best of plans.

Bring as much up in one go as you can.  Crane the hard goods, tall trees, furniture, pergola outdoor kitchen etc. all at the same time. Anything that wont fit in the service elevator, or is too heavy for it. Even things that would take an endless amount of labor time to bring up by hand.  You don't want to be doing this twice!!  Even if the start of the garden is a long way out a lot of the garden can sit and wait - especially the hard goods !

 

Giant tree being craned up!

 

17 floors ! and through a window !!!

Avoid days where there a large public events such as parades or marathons that close large portions of access in and out of the city. Even though the event may not pass your building it will affect access.

 

The Costs

 

Suffice to say the crane operator alone can easily be $60K++ a day to reach a tall building of 15 floors.  Of course this figure does not include permits, permissions, insurance, hardgoods, plants, soil, pavers, labor, etc., etc., etc.

 

 

For a Fabulous design and craning options too !

Call our Design Team at Plant Specialists today!

 

PLANT SPECIALISTS

GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 52 YEARS !

 

 

Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBA

All photographs used from our own customers gardens

 

Peter Morris

Peter was born and raised on a beautiful green island in the midst of a tropical rainforest. He was introduced into the world of plants at the age of six when his grandmother, an avid Spanish gardener herself, asked him to help her grow seeds for her pepper garden. He was hooked! By the time he was a teen, he had his own rose and orchid collection numbering in the hundreds. Botany was in his blood, and that is what he set out to study.

His passion brought him to NY in the late seventies to further his education. His tenacity allowed him to work full time at Plant Specialists while he completed a MS in Plant Biology. As a manager at the time he felt unsatisfied with his knowledge of business and business processes. Peter felt compelled to learn, so he then pursued and completed an MBA in Quality Management within a few short years.

Peter’s other passion is teaching. His natural ability is quickly consumed by our staff in all subjects in Botany, Horticulture, and Landscaping. He created an immense reference library of more than 3,500 plants providing an invaluable resource for our staff.

Peter’s breadth of knowledge and wisdom allows him to effectively diagnose the needs of plants. Sometimes just by walking into a garden he can create a prescription that fixes even the hardest issue. He is our Staff Botanist, Diagnostician, and all around Mentor. Recently, he has put his immense knowledge and skills into developing a new department that focuses on Plant Healthcare. As he puts it, “Magic through Science”. The PHC staff that surround him have avidly consumed his teachings. Substantially developing their own plant wisdom, many have taken on difficult plant health issues with spectacular results.

Plant Healthcare has been an instant success with customers! The proper treatment of insects and diseases including Organic methods has made pest control a necessity for every plant. Correcting hormonal imbalances caused by planting in containers or refurbishing soils leached of nutrients by irrigation systems are big challenges PHC has become quite comfortable addressing. The scientific approach to the complex demands of keeping plants healthy in our harsh city environment has made many a customer say WOW!

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