Breaking: St. Augustine's Spire "Swaying," in Danger of Collapse

The stretch of Sterling Place between Fifth and Sixth Avenues have been blocked off by police tape, and officers standing guard pointed upwards, toward St. Augustine Church's spire flèche, when I asked them what all the commotion was about.

"It's swaying, so we closed the street as a precaution," one officer told me amongst a small crowd of onlookers. "There's a chance that it could collapse, so a crane is coming to fix it."

It didn't appear to be swaying violently, but any movement is a bad thing. Apparently is was swaying a few feet in either direction during yesterday's windstorm. It does appear to be listing slightly in this view from my roof.

Comments

[ParkSlopePerson]

ooh, hope it's ok! That church is beautiful

[freddie]

why do we need police? shouldn't god take care of this one?

[Pork Slope]

Someone this weekend told me “God is trying to tell us something!” Yup, he’s telling us to build stronger church buildings and maybe maintain them a little better!

[ParkSlopePerson]

Any updates on this?

[Boo]

I have been searching for live footage of this swaying that I saw on the news but I can't find any footage anywhere! Does anyone know where I can find footage of the spire swaying?