New York City’s Financial District is home to towering skyscrapers that define its skyline. However, one structure stands out—not for its grandeur, but for its infamous lean. The unfinished high-rise at 161 Maiden Lane, nicknamed the “Banana Tower,” has been at the center of controversy, lawsuits, and engineering failures, making it one of the city’s most expensive construction disasters.
In 2015, Fortis Property Group broke ground on One Seaport, a $272 million luxury residential tower with 60 floors and stunning views of the East River. Units were priced between $1.2 million and $18 million, but cost-cutting measures soon led to catastrophic consequences. Instead of drilling deep steel piles into bedrock, as is standard practice, Fortis attempted a cheaper alternative: injecting concrete into the soil to reinforce the foundation. This decision saved the company just 2.21% of the project’s cost—roughly $6 million—but it also set the stage for disaster.
The site’s history proved to be a challenge. Originally built on Colonial-era landfill composed of debris, sand, and even shipwrecks, the ground beneath the tower was unstable. Despite warnings from engineering consultants about potential “differential settlements”—or tilting—Fortis proceeded. By 2019, measurements showed the building had leaned up to 10 inches (ca. 25 cm), prompting legal disputes and a halt in construction by 2020.
With buyers pulling out, lawsuits piling up, and no clear resolution in sight, One Seaport remains a ghost tower. Structural engineers insist it won’t topple, but whether it will ever be completed remains uncertain. With over $300 million already sunk into the project, someone may eventually revive it—crooked or not.
