Pratique du Shadowing: New York's Buckling Tower: What Happens Now? - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
Choisissez un mode d'entraînement
Chaque mode ouvre une salle d'entraînement en plein écran.
169 phrases
Si les phrases sont trop courtes ou trop longues, cliquez sur Edit pour les ajuster.
1
We're operating at 235 East 42.
2
We have columns partially down on 21 and 22, and we have floors sagging between 21 and 26.
3
On July 7, 2026, crowds gathered outside 235 East 42nd Street.
4
A building is on the verge of collapsing in midtown Manhattan.
5
Bricks falling from a former office building that is being converted into luxury rental units.
6
While at the time, its developer described the issues as nothing more than a typical construction mishap,
7
how often do emergency services close an entire area for routine purposes?
8
This is far from a typical construction accident.
9
The north side of that building is crumbling.
10
The I-beams are bending like cigarettes in there.
11
The building remains unstable.
12
Since arriving on scene, we have witnessed additional movement in one of the compromised columns.
13
Investigations are still ongoing.
14
Now, two months down the line, we can look at some clues as to what the hell happened here
15
and try and unpack a little bit of how one of New York's biggest building projects got into such a state.
16
If you live in a major city, then you've probably seen police tape before.
17
But what you may not have seen is a cordon being enforced because authorities were worried that a building might collapse.
18
And that is exactly what happened here just a few weeks ago.
19
Situated not far from Grand Central Terminal, 235 East 42nd Street sits among a cluster of offices.
20
Opening in 1961 as the Pfizer headquarters, it spent the majority of its life going pretty under the radar.
21
The building was 33 stories tall, more than three times as tall as its neighbour.
22
Joined at its hip is 219 East 42nd Street, a much shorter development that opened in the early 20th century, standing just 10 stories tall.
23
These buildings opened in a different time, in eras defined by a drive for office space, when the term work from home would have been gibberish to most people.
24
The landscape today is very different.
25
The office is still important to the city, but following the pandemic, vacancy rates shot up.
26
Meanwhile, as any resident of New York or regular viewer of the B1M is aware, the city is in the midst of a housing crisis.
27
With so many empty or partially empty office buildings and a lot of people needing homes, you might start to see a solution.
28
New York certainly did.
29
In 2024, the city of Yes for Housing Opportunity was rubber stamped, relaxing rules around converting offices into residential spaces.
30
Enter 235 East 42nd Street, which I'm going to refer to going forward as simply 235.
31
By 2025, construction was underway on what architects Gensler described as the largest conversion of its kind in New York City history.
32
Once open, it'll offer more than 1,600 apartments.
33
Now this is where things get challenging.
34
The smaller tower here is 219 East 42nd, and that's being taken up to 29 or 30 stories, depending on how you count things like mechanical floors.
35
Meanwhile, over here, the bigger tower is 235 East 42nd, and that's having four stories added, taking up to 37 stories overall.
36
Basically, these two towers were both constructed half a century apart, but they're now being merged into one giant development.
37
To put that into perspective, in the time between 219 and 235 being built, America fought in two world wars, stumbled through the Great Depression,
38
and fundamentally overhauled its building processes.
39
Now looking back, it's easy to see how much things have changed between the early 1900s and the 1960s,
40
but in the moment, it's hard to recognize the speed at which everything around us is evolving.
41
Today, a lot of the buildings across New York are designed for people like me, who need a desk, a computer, and a healthy supply of coffee to get our work done.
42
Hey, does anybody want coffee?
43
And at this rate, I spend so much of my time in my office
44
that I'm wondering whether I should just live here.
45
I can start by getting rid of this desk and replacing it with a super king, but given how hot this summer has been, I'll be keeping the aircon.
46
Okay, it's a bit more complicated than that, but visualizing the move is much more straightforward with Rayon Design.
47
It's a browser-based design tool which tells you something about how much technology has evolved since the 60s,
48
making any architect or designer's creation process an absolute doddle.
49
No install, no version wrangling, just open a tab and start drawing.
50
You can quickly piece together your blueprints, like my perfect bedroom, adding as much detail as you need thanks to Rayon's massive CAD library.
51
It's stacked out with a whopping 50,000 blocks and
52
if for some bizarre reason you can't find what you're looking
53
for their AI tool can generate basically anything you want at the drop of a hat.
54
And all of this integrated into one place from concept through design
55
and even presentation which saves you from constantly clicking between different programs searching for information.
56
If you think you can convert this office into a better home
57
or you want to make the most of round design for
58
your next project then scan the QR code on screen or click the link below to get started for free today.
59
Now let's get back to Manhattan, because there's an office conversion there that kinda needs our attention.
60
You see, the smaller 219 was built in the early 1900s with terracotta and cast iron.
61
Meanwhile, the taller 235 is a largely steel structure, using material nearly half as strong as some of the stuff you can get your hands on today.
62
And so modernising and and redeveloping those two buildings calls for very different approaches.
63
Steel from the 1960s is very, very, very different, believe it or not, from steel work from 2026.
64
Chris O'Regan is a Chartered Structural Engineer and the Head of Structural Safety at Francombe Consultancy Group.
65
While he's not part of the redevelopment at 235, we dropped him a call the week after it hit the news to ask him what he thought.
66
The first thing you do is find out what the structure performs, almost reverse engineer the structure entirely, determine what it can actually support.
67
Then if there is any need for strengthening works then you design them, apply them and develop them and work them through.
68
So preparing these two buildings from different eras to become a single development of the future is one challenge
69
and we've already touched on the second hurdle.
70
Converting it from office space into residential space isn't easy.
71
There are really strict regulations around natural lights and ventilation in apartment buildings that are different to those regulations for office buildings.
72
The plumbing will need an overhaul to serve the different residential units.
73
There's the potential for the ceiling heights having to be varied and weight distributions differing between the floors.
74
We're talking about adjusting support beams to manage loads and create entirely new spaces for completely new floor plans.
75
In fact, in 2023 Moody Analytics reviewed more than a thousand offices in the city
76
and of those only three percent were viable for apartment conversions.
77
Now, we've actually covered an office to apartment conversion project in New York before.
78
In 2023 the 1930s era 1 Wall Street reopened as a luxury apartment building with six additional floors added onto its height.
79
That required scrupulous planning to calculate the changing loads.
80
Lighter, voided slabs were used for the new floors, while the existing structural beams and columns were strengthened throughout the building.
81
Crews also created transfer structures to distribute new loads into the older frame very carefully.
82
And because apartments are generally lighter than offices, they could factor in a weight reduction for the overall structure, meaning they could get more out of the older frame.
83
It's proof that conversions like this are definitely doable, but come with considerable complexity.
84
So what the hell happened here?
85
How did 235 East 42nd Street get into such a mess?
86
Early on July 7, 2026, construction workers discovered that a steel column on the 21st floor had buckled.
87
The fire department was called around 8am and it found a number of sagging floors, cracks and two buckling columns.
88
In response, workers on the site were evacuated, followed by a full-scale evacuation of nine nearby buildings, including a school.
89
The The area was cordoned off as a frozen zone was imposed, and New York City's mayor announced the structural issues to the public.
90
Two structural columns have buckled in addition to multiple cracks and sagging floors.
91
The building remains unstable.
92
We have witnessed additional movement in one of the compromised columns.
93
Later on Tuesday morning, officials confirmed the damage was located to a specific section of the development, not the entire building.
94
The firm GACE created the building's engineering plan and it was quick to point out what it believed was the main cause.
95
As reported by the Gothamist, GACE's principal Chris Behan moved to blame the trouble on a
96
lack of reinforcement from the 19th floor to the top of the 21st floor.
97
Earlier reporting by the Gothamist showed GACE's plans did actually call for reinforcement along the two columns that eventually buckled.
98
Meanwhile, developer Nathan Burman seemed to agree.
99
In an interview on the day of the incident, he claimed the issue may have occurred on the 21st floor
100
due to additional stress caused by the wait from the 22nd level upwards.
101
That was part of a widening of the top 15 floors.
102
Burman went on to say the buckling columns may not have been reinforced properly,
103
while the city's Department of Buildings said the structure's steel columns would need to be reinforced.
104
Simply put, they were overloaded.
105
They buckled in on themselves.
106
That's how steel columns, and indeed reinforced concrete, any column really, fails typically.
107
They buckle in on themselves.
108
In order to prevent that from happening, if I were to wrap my fingers around with a bit of tube, like a toilet paper tube, they would resist that force from buckling.
109
So this is what they actually prevented and wanted to do.
110
And while a criminal investigation is still ongoing, this gives us some idea as to what may have happened.
111
The New York City Department of Buildings is responsible for making sure that codes are met and that building projects are safe,
112
so as you can imagine it's going to be a major player in this investigation.
113
The Gothamist highlighted a complaint note that was posted
114
and then deleted by the NYC Department of Buildings
115
which reportedly said the failure to provide steel reinforcement as per approved plans led to the cause of the the incident.
116
The following week, The Gothamist claims that the Press Secretary of the Department of Buildings, Andrew Rudansky, said the note was posted by a staff member but that it wasn't accurate,
117
so it was corrected the same day.
118
However, it would seem to align with the views of GACE and the developer.
119
As for the columns themselves, they were reinforced with temporary shoring to provide stability and make it safe for assessments to be made.
120
In this particular instance, I do notice that where the columns are buckled, the structures actually cantilevers over sails.
121
So you've got the column here and it's over sails like this.
122
So it's making it even worse.
123
You know, they actually applied a significant load on those particular columns.
124
I suspect that is why those two actually buckled rather than the others, because the other columns would have been affected by this as well.
125
You look at the actual buckled columns and if they've buckled where's the rest of the load gone?
126
Because clearly it's still standing, but where's it gone?
127
That's a very loaded question, pun intended.
128
As you can see now the roads are open again
129
and life here is pretty much continuing as normal but it doesn't mean it's the end of a story.
130
For the time being, while we wait on the findings of the investigation, we're working off of fire department reports,
131
deleted notes from the department of buildings and reactionary comments from the developer and project engineers.
132
Columns buckled and, at least for now, there are claims that they were never properly reinforced.
133
If that's the case, then it's a major oversight.
134
But ultimately the kind of thing that's better to have been discovered at this point than when the building was fully occupied.
135
The compromised section of the development faces a rebuild and, depending on what's discovered, there could be a need to adapt the structural system.
136
For the time being, Berman says this is unlikely to be a full demolition job.
137
As Chris said, we'll have to wait and see where that load moved after the columns buckled.
138
We approached Metroloft for comment, but at the time of publishing this video we hadn't heard back from them.
139
It's a nervous period for Berman, who suggested this incident would probably only cost a few extra weeks.
140
When you consider the ongoing investigation and the amount of redevelopment work that it would appear is required, that sounds pretty ambitious.
141
Cranes reported back in 2024 that lease signings could begin in 2026 with move-ins from 2027.
142
And so it's worth remembering a developer is beholden to investors and apartment pre-sales.
143
There are wider implications too.
144
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that lenders and investors in the US are now rethinking projects like this.
145
It turns out this isn't the first time 235 has come in for criticism.
146
Reports show it had already faced 44 prior complaints against it,
147
ranging from falling debris to a worker blowing material off the roof with a leaf blower,
148
although emergency services at the time said they found no evidence to suggest that was true.
149
What happened at 235 led to safety reviews of a number of office to apartment conversions across five boroughs.
150
Three buildings faced stop work orders or partial work pauses
151
because of problems ranging from cracking beams to site safety issues and missing paperwork.
152
It's too early to say what the long-term consequences of this New York saga will be, but we're going to keep you guys up to date as we get more news and as the investigation moves forward.
153
But in the meantime, I think what this really shows for me is just how much we take the construction industry for granted.
154
Billions of us all around the world use millions of buildings every day without any incidents.
155
There are projects like this happening all around the world every day where nothing's going wrong
156
and no one ever hears about them.
157
The fact that one ordinary building can go to becoming world news
158
because of an incident like this shows just how rare these incidents are
159
and actually what a great job construction does most of the time of shaping our world
160
and protecting each of us every time we go into a building.
161
For me, taking a very glass half full approach, this episode, even though it's terrible, kind of shows how lucky we are.
162
This video was sponsored by Rayon Design.
163
Don't forget
164
that you can try out Rayon Design yourself free of charge by scanning the QR code on screen
165
or clicking the link below.
166
It massively helps us out here when you guys take the time to go
167
and check out our video sponsors so please do go and check out Rayon we would really appreciate it.
168
And as always guys if you enjoyed this video
169
and you want to get more from the definitive video channel for construction make sure you're subscribed to the B1M.
Télécharger l'application
Tout pour parler couramment
Prononciation IAChaque phrase notée
Phonétique (IPA)Maîtrisez chaque son
VocabulaireEnrichissez votre lexique
Jeu de vocabulaireApprenez en jouant
Même chaîne
C110
Why Europe Doesn't Build Skyscrapers
British AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B24
The World's Most Beautiful Bridge Just Opened
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
Germany Has Finally Built a Decent Airport
British AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
C13
What is This $3BN Machine Under New York?
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
Powering The Internet is Becoming a Big Problem
British AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C18
Vietnam’s $67BN Gamble on High-Speed Rail
British AccentIELTS PrepBusiness EnglishUniversity Students
B2Why the World’s Biggest Aquarium is Being Built in Secret
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Vidéo recommandée
B21
147 phrases
It's Happening Right Outside My NYC Window
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
24 phrases
Rival developers could be called in to finish thousands of Bathla homes in NSW | 7NEWS
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
131 phrases
Inside a $23Million Ultra-luxurious Duplex Penthouse | Eden Residences | Singapore Property Tour
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C11
228 phrases
Architect Breaks Down 5 of the Most Common New York Apartments | Architectural Digest
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
233 phrases
How Were the Pyramids Actually Built?
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
40 phrases
See ‘Pyonghattan’: North Korea’s modern new skyscraper district
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B274 phrases
The Rise And Fall Of The Mall
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
160 phrases
Margin Call 2011 Senior Partners Emergency Meeting HD 1080p
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
404 phrases
211026 BBC London Evening News
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
27 phrases
The True Story of Texas City Disaster
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon
Cette leçon d’expression orale de niveau B2 s’appuie sur la vidéo « New York's Buckling Tower: What Happens Now? ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : column, floor, buckled. Cette vidéo contient 169 phrases et 2594 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 15:37. Le locuteur parle à un rythme naturel d’environ 166 mots par minute, proche d’une conversation courante. 82 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais ; le reste mérite d’être vu avant de commencer.
Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo
Les 15 mots les plus avancés de la vidéo, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :
| Mot | Prononciation | Sens |
|---|---|---|
| buckle nom | /ˈbʌkəl/ | boucle |
| structural adjectif | /ˈstɹʌk(t͡)ʃəɹəl/ | structurel, structural |
| reinforce verbe | /ˌɹiː.ɪnˈfɔːs/ | renforcer |
| developer nom | /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/ | concepteur, développeur |
| convert verbe | /kənˈvɝt/ | convertir |
| beam nom | /ˈbiːm/ | madrier |
| reinforcement nom | /ˌɹiːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/ | renfort |
| sag verbe | /sæɡ/ | ployer, s'affaisser |
| compromise nom | /ˈkɑmpɹəˌmaɪz/ | compromis, concession |
| evolve verbe | /ɪˈvɑlv/ | élaborer |
| unstable adjectif | /ʌnˈsteɪ.bəl/ | instable |
| investor nom | /ɪnˈvɛs.tə(ɹ)/ | investisseur, investisseuse |
| sail nom | /seɪl/ | voile |
| strengthen verbe | /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/ | renforcer, affermir |
| sponsor nom | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | commanditaire, sponsor |
Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez
| Mot | Sens |
|---|---|
| check out verbe | mater, regarder |
| find out verbe | découvrir, savoir |
| look back verbe | se remémorer |
| point out verbe | pointer |
| try out verbe | essayer, expérimenter |
| turn out verbe | se finir, se terminer |
La grammaire de cette vidéo
Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :
| Structure | Dans la vidéo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant | have witnessed · you've probably seen · have changed |
| Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait | being converted · being enforced · being taken |
Prononciation à surveiller
Le locuteur utilise 25 contractions et formes réduites, comme we're, I'm, isn't. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.
- Les sons « sh » et « zh »: structural /ˈstɹʌk(t͡)ʃəɹəl/, partially /ˈpɑɹʃəli/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, ventilation /ˌvɛntɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, demolition /ˌdɛm.əˈlɪʃ.ən/
- Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, reinforcement /ˌɹiːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/, cantilever /ˈkantɪliːvə/, evacuate /ɪˈvæk.ju.eɪt/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/
Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :
- /h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: beholden /bɪˈhəʊldən/, overhaul /ˈəʊvəˌhɔːl/
- /tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: verge /vɜːd͡ʒ/, merge /mɝd͡ʒ/, adjust /əˈd͡ʒʌst/, situated /ˈsɪt͡ʃueɪtɪd/
- /r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: structural /ˈstɹʌk(t͡)ʃəɹəl/, reinforce /ˌɹiː.ɪnˈfɔːs/, reinforcement /ˌɹiːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/, compromise /ˈkɑmpɹəˌmaɪz/, cordon /ˈkɔː(ɹ)dən/
Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo
- Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
- Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
- Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme buckle, structural, reinforce.
Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?
Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.