Yesterday [a small plane crash crashed [WSJ]](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116059274439989628.html?mod=home_whats_news_us) into [The Belaire Condo at 524 East 72nd Street [Gawker]](http://gawker.com/news/photos/first-photos-plane-crashes-into-manhattan-building-206915.php) in Manhattan killing New York [Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle](http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061011&content_id=1708962&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy) and his flight instructor.

Not knowing the details, my first instinct was a [rehash of the 9/11](http://matrix.millersamuelv2.wpenginepowered.com/?p=848). Not a feeling of panic but simply an addition to my menu of options for what may have happened. Apparently, the US government had the same feeling as fighter jets were scrambled. News traveled quickly and within moments I got a few emails from friends in other parts of the country asking if I was ok and [calls from the media [Bloomberg]](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBEQLx_fX1ng&refer=us). Of course this tragedy is all about the people killed and injured and our sympathies for their family and friends.

This feeling of dread was quickly diffused as more information came in (quickly I might add). In fact, [a real estate broker who was showing a buyer the penthouse unit in the building when the plane hit [WSJ]](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116062381342290280-search.html?KEYWORDS=donna+olshan&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month), was reporteldy undeterred by the event and still interested in the unit.

Some individuals inquired whether this incident would stigmatize the building. Assuming the building checks out ok, I don’t see how this would have any negative impact on values in the building. Once the debris is removed and access to units in the building is practical, things should be back to business as usual. The question of stigma arose recently after the [Manhattan townhouse exploded [Curbed]](http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/07/12/e62nd_gas_dissipates_leaving_developers_dream.php) a few months ago creating a groundswell of publicity.

In the twisted world of public relations, more eyeballs on the property may prove to be helpful to provide exposure for sale or simply serve to offset the negative impact of a tragedy like this.

Not meant to be in poor taste, I remember a line spoken by Robin Williams in the movie [The World According To Garp](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084917/) after a small plane crashed into the house they were looking to purchase.

>We’ll take the house. Honey, the chances of another plane hitting this house are astronomical. It’s been pre-disastered. We’re going to be safe here.


One Comment

  1. Matt Carter October 13, 2006 at 6:46 pm

    Unless Charles Schumer, who wants the FAA to end unrestricted low-altitude flights over Manhattan, scares everybody away from living there:

    “A smart terrorist could load up a small, little plane with biological, chemical or even nuclear material and fly up the Hudson or East rivers, no questions asked. I hope this will be a wake-up call to the FAA to re-examine flight patterns, which, amazingly enough, they haven’t done since 9/11.”

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