In January, 2023, Gramercy safely performed energetic felling of the Hart Island Stack in the northeastern Bronx section of New York City. The stack was seriously compromised having a crack from the base all the way to the top. The best way to ensure everyone’s safety was to utilize energetic material as demolition means and methods. This video shows the process of the felling from start to finish.

The Hart Island Chimney dated back to the 1910s and was part of the structures deemed unsafe by a city government report. Hart Island has a long and storied past. It first began as a training location for the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. It was also a Union prison camp before being converted into everything from a psychiatric asylum to a tuberculosis sanatorium. New York’s Hart Island is probably best known for its use as a potter’s field, or public cemetery. Now part of NYC Parks, plans are in place to remove dangerous aging structures to make the space more accessible to visitors.

Thank you to the asbestos laborers, operators, supers and project management of the Hart Island Team for delivering a successful project, including the demolition and abatement of 18 contaminated buildings and the implosion of the smoke stack.

This project successfully used barging with tug boats in and out of the site to transport material, equipment and labor to and from the island. 

What goes up…We take down!