Snow Covered Negligence: The Knickerbocker Theater Disaster

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The Knickerbocker Theater Disaster, 100 Years Ago on January 28th 1922 in Washington D.C. was both tragic and preventable. The Knickerbocker Storm, A massive snowstorm/blizzard, combined with cost cutting and negligence led to this devastating Washington Heights Tragedy.
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▶REFERENCES, SOURCES & FEATURED MEDIA: pastebin.com/SFP0XcEh
▶Timestamps:
00:00 Setting the Stage - Harry M Crandall
02:55 Knickerbocker Theater Background & Architect Reginald W Geare
05:03 Steel Supplier Issues & Roof Framing Revisions
05:55 Theater Construction Issues Early On & Frank L Wagner
06:50 The Roaring 20s Bring Roaring Crowds - Theater Expansion
07:21 The Knickerbocker Storm
07:48 The Snow Laden Roof Collapses, Chaos Ensues
09:36 Rescue Efforts in The Darkness and Storm
11:32 Difficult Investigation and Eventual Findings
12:12 How did The Knickerbocker Theater Collapse?
15:32 Subsequent Trials and Aftermath
17:56 The Ambassador Theater built in its place
18:31 In Memoriam...
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Hey, I'm Sam! Child of the 80s turned Parent, Traveler, & Bumbling/Stumbling Nostalgic, Sentimental Creator. With a background in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Industrial Robotics and a passion for Workplace Safety... half the time I know about 50% what I'm doing!
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[@BrickImmortar]

Toss a Coin to your Researcher? Patreon: www.patreon.com/BrickImmortar I-35 Minneapolis Bridge Collapse: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnazpKp6jseWpM0 The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJiqXpqkpdNjpdU FIU Pedestrian Bridge Collapse: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWSohJadqr-NsKs The COLLAPSE Series: kzbin.info/aero/PLiAs3qpTmQD1ZcWs7qMZp5x2T6O00Py3I

[@RosiePosey5150]

Downloaded the app ty 😊

[@KrK007]

Watching this, it springs to mind the story of the Citicorp Center in NYC. The decision during construction, to save money and time by deviating from the design using welded steel plates to bolted plates instead, combined with a lack of calculations for the loads quartering winds would apply to the sky scraper, set the building up to collapse during a storm with the potential for great loss of life. Luckily, the flaws were discovered in 1978 after inquires from a Princeton University engineering student, Diane Hartley, who was writing her senior thesis on the building and its unique architecture, and the building was repaired before a disaster occured. Hartley wasn't told until about her role in saving the building.... it wasn't until 1995 when the New Yorker magazine revealed the story of the flaws and secret repairs that she realized her work resulted in emergency repairs which saved the building.

[@billybob9961]

Incredible job your work is truly amazing.

[@billybob9961]

It always seems to be several things causing these tragedies.

[@Rammstein0963.]

One small correction. There WAS a warning, moments before the collapse, I understand that someone who worked in mines said he heard cracking and creaking that his training told him meant an imminent collapse in a mine, so he bolted for the door, making it out just moments before the disaster.

[@DEATHTOTHESHITTERS]

Not with an orchestra playing live.

[@rowbom]

I Remember, watching disasters of the century and hearing that exact same story

[@bradymenting5120]

@@DEATHTOTHESHITTERS you'd be surprised how loud structural failures can be. the problem is that those sounds don't always come until seconds before the ceiling becomes the floor.

[@hh7407]

10:59 This lady who called all the physicians. Quick thinking and she had access to phone numbers others did not have. Awesome lady. Would be neat to know what ever happened to her in life and where she is buried. Would be nice to pay respects.

[@nerysghemor5781]

Yeah, we’re so used to having a modern 911 system…she basically stepped up and did what a 911 dispatcher would do these days, with no help.

[@CaffeineGeek]

Disasters such as the Knickerbocker Theatre collapse should serve as a cautionary tale to those in industries beyond construction. In my field, there is always pressure to cut costs, meet budget, and deemphasize the importance of items not visible to the customer. Years ago I was brought on a project that played out in a similar way. Costs were cut in critical areas, unapproved hacks implemented, lack of ownership on assigned tasks, anything not visible was deprioritized, and a general "not my problem" attitude was pervasive. When my concerns were brushed aside, I resigned. Six months after the project was complete, disaster struck and the fallout nearly put the company out of business. While no one was injured or lost their lives, it was extremely disruptive for customers and financially costly to remediate. Everything could have easily been prevented has the issues addressed in this video been taken to heart.

[@Momo-po5tn]

Im glad you kept your integrity! A clean conscience is the best pillow.

[@MTL911EmergencyPhotography]

There's a term for this type of phenomenon: normalization of deviance.

[@hlowrylong]

Are things better now? It seems as though it is, despite an event like the south FL condo collapse … which seems to be ultimately a bad set of Condo Assoc board members choosing to not rehab timely + bad luck….

[@forrestgreene1139]

Never accept the lowest bid.

[@ericwilner1403]

Other industries, oh yes. There's an old saying: if builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. The Knickerbocker Theater seems to have been built very much like a program, with many ill-considered, last-minute, ad-hoc changes. At least it wasn't having hasty design changes applied every few days after it was finished, though. ("After that last patch, the fire curtain won't lower and the toilets in the gents' room are backed up? We'll have another patch in a week or two.")

[@Phoenixesper1]

Love your channel. Between you, Plainly Difficult and Facinating Horror, I get my horrible manmade disaster fix on a regular basis! Thank You! :)

[@ayindestevens6152]

I share the same sentiment.

[@TheDasHatti]

I ll just join this club! And adding a bit of Mentour Pilot.

[@Syclone0044]

Don’t forget the King: the USCSB, although they only release 1-2 videos a year.

[@Phoenixesper1]

I also forgot Dark History. He's been churning out quality videos on manmade disasters.

[@Alyssiusyouk]

The Mayday Air series is great for aircraft industry history, incidents, and the changes that resulted from them!

[@cyberchoys]

I’m honestly surprised this channel doesn’t have more subscribers considering the production quality. love the collapse series!

[@confusedkemono]

Ive said the same before. With time it'll grow im sure!

[@TracyA123]

Yeah I love the collapse series too! I think one day he will wake up in the morning to find he has a million subs

[@morganosborne9258]

I am as well. Great research, professionalism, and delivery.

[@Tek_777]

Couldn’t agree more, very underrated channel

[@sorryi6685]

The algorithm rewards Quantity over quality sadly

[@iseunifeoluwaakinkugbe330]

As a prospective Structural Engineer, videos like this always motivate me to ensure that my designs will be done to the highest standard of integrity and professional ethics. P.S: could you please do a video on the Pemberton Mill of 1860? Most people regard it as the worst structural design failure and it’s cause was down to many similar issues as with the Knickerboker Theatre.

[@18booma]

@@badwolf7367 The sway of money is often stronger than the sway of the engineer. But the engineer must at least try to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Also, this is another reason why unionizing is so important. The individual has no say, but if the workers are united, especially in such a sought after field, they are able to affect change and prevent the preventable.

[@TrineDaely]

Plainly Difficult covers a lot of these kind of failures, too. You should see the ones on mall collapses. Pretty sure there's a civil or structural engineering channel that covers failures, too, as well as Fascinating Horror. No single channel has every disaster, and of the ones covered by multiple channels you'll get additional pieces of information from each of them. There's good channels that are even more specific in focus, like dam failures, roller coaster failures, boat design, etc. You never know what piece of knowledge could make a difference, from wall strength to easily accessible fire exits or hazards you may not generally think about that are more linked to human behavior.

[@user-me8hc3bs7i]

Sadly many cases of unionized labor have had similar failures due to the “not my job” syndrome that has fallen over a lot of industrial construction. Structure guy didn’t locate the anchors because that was the concrete guys job, but concrete guy said it was the anchor guys job, anchor guy said it was the steel workers job, and the steel workers build the structure without anchors because “if they wanted anchors they should have installed them already.”

[@18booma]

@@user-me8hc3bs7i I don't know hey, sounds to me like anchors might be the anchor guy's job. But I would love to hear, how you think unionization is to blame for people not knowing who's doing what. Isn't the whole point of management to manage the allocation of work?

[@OvelNick]

​@@18boomaI'm not sure but I think he was saying the unions aren't much better and the "not my job" weakness has permeated everywhere. I could be wrong.

[@riverlady982]

I have so much respect for an architect who shows up to a collapsed building he designed to help find victims. His design wasn't really the main cause but he couldn't know that at the time and others have hid from such events. I respect the fact that he didn't hide but it sounds like he didn't spare himself any blame, god rest the souls of every one touched by this. There were to many cooks in the kitchen so to speak and I get no impression of intended wrong doing by anyone really. It bring to mind only a few other disasters of engineering that made me think no harm was really meant or fully understood when built.

[@sixstringedthing]

05:35 "However, these revisions would quickly received sign-off anyway ... with no calculations reportedly being made to ensure load capacity of the new materials or designs by any parties involved". Kinda weird to be having "flashbacks" to Kansas City when the walkway collapse happened _nearly 60 years after_ this incident, but the above phrasing just sounds too familiar. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes after just a single tragic death. Other times, it seems the lesson must be horifically reinforced before it actually sticks. And then greed goes and undoes it all. Thanks for another grim but fascinating video Sam, excellent research and presentation as always.

[@melasn9836]

Thank you for covering this. When I worked in DC, one of our elderly clients said something about a "Knickerbocker storm" coming and told me about this. Yet there's very little out there on this disaster.

[@robertdolby]

Thank you. My family is from DC. My grandmother was 12 at the time this happened, and she talked about it as if it were yesterday. They lived near the Capitol. She would also talk about the street cars/trolleys. I would imagine getting from Capitol Hill to Adams Morgan would've taken less time back then. Thank you for doing this video. I knew that neighborhood well in the late 80's/early 90's when I lived near and worked in DC.

[@effluviah7544]

Mrs. Dorsey Bush is a hero. Quick thinking, gave the right info to the right people. Incredibly well done, and one of many rescuers/aiders involved who did a great job with a terrible situation. A great example of something you can do if you can't be helpful on the scene: Contact people who CAN be helpful on the scene.

[@filanfyretracker]

a good rule of thumb in the Northeastern US, Never trim budget in anything that revolves around keeping the roof up. You will eventually meet a winter that has your number. I mean structural elements should never get trimmed budgets but you certainly are a lot less likely to suddenly get an extra few hundred tons on a roof in say Atlanta.

[@craigjensen6853]

(cough) Kemper Arena (cough) Hartford Civic Center (cough)

[@fararelliott]

That's a grand explanation! There is one memorial to the Knickerbocker victims. It is a memorial chapel at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church on Connecticut Avenue, which lost 15 parishioners in the collapse.

[@marqbarq5977]

The Tivoli Theater in neighboring Columbia Heights in wash DC (14th and Park NW) was built after this with a structural modification that the entire roof was supported by external walls to ensure that this couldn’t happen again. This disaster changed the way theaters were designed.

[@TracyA123]

5 inches out of plumb?!?!? Wow! With the chords not even anchored! Almost unthinkable! Particularly sad about the suicides following this tragedy though. I shudder to think how it would feel to know I caused someone else's death. Almost understandable but so sad. Great overlay of the corner with the blueprints Sam! I'm sure that was a tough thing to get right. Well done!

[@fatfreddyscoat7564]

I inspected an acoustic wall between two cinema screens a couple of years back as the suspended ceiling had partially collapsed: turns out that this massive partition wall has a movement tolerance of 80mm at the top (which was about 20m in height) and it wasn’t anchored to any roof sections by design, and when it moved it pulled all of the supporting trim that held the suspended ceiling perimeter in place away from the cross tees by 80mm and so they dropped to the floor. 80mm … and the manufacturer said that was acceptable tolerances.

[@caroleketelsen5445]

thank you for listing the names of the people who perished.

[@thereseoconnor8897]

I partially grew up in Maryland, not too far from D.C. My mother instilled a love of history in me. She would take my sister and me to the museums every weekend. I've never encountered this story. Thanks for sharing it!

[@Thor-Orion]

Montgomery or PG?

[@MyLinguine]

I’m so sorry the KZbin algorithms are working against you. This content is so good it’s hard to believe you don’t have more views. Keep up the good work!

[@melissajohnson2935]

I live in Louisiana and we had a crazy snow storm last year. We got like 6 inches and it didn't melt within a day, like it usually does on the rare chances we get snow. We quickly and unluckily found out that a good portion of our structures are not snow weight rated. We have figures out how to keep a trailer house in place through a cat 3 hurricane but our roofs can't handle the weight of a few inches of snow 🤦🏻‍♀️😬

[@angelachouinard4581]

@ Melissa Johnson Thanks for sharing . You can only design for what you can anticipate. The weather is getting crazier all over the world and we are unprepared. Six inches of snow in Louisiana, extreme cold in Texas and in the same year a record heat wave and wildfires in Siberia. What other systems we have might fail?

[@FloozieOne]

As an original Yankee from Boston I moved to New Orleans right after Katrina. It was the first time I had seen such destruction. However, it never occurred to me to worry about snow! Last year I lost over half my outdoor plants. When I went out and saw the snow-covered leaves I just sat down and cried. Sure, gardens aren't houses and plants aren't people but I had rescued them all when I moved in and it had taken a decade to make the patio a lovely peaceful place and the first garden I had ever had.

[@pcru6851]

@@FloozieOne my mother loves gardening. I will collect seeds or plants I come across, just for her. I know it makes her happy. She has had many diffent types of gardens. However, since we have assholes for dogs. They always demolish her efforts. The family even got together to build a fence around her garden. Because she was so sad that her gardens wouldn't last long. Unfortunately, they still got in after a few months. They trampled and dug up everything. Seeing her sadness 😔. My sincere condolences for your loss.

[@Elhastezy888]

@@FloozieOne I would have cried like a baby as well. Living growing things you spent time cultivating & loving to unexpectedly get hurt.... heartbreaking. Hope you found a way to let go & continue trying 💕 many blessings

[@youreverydayhellknight4257]

Can Handle Hurricanes just fine but not snow storms. Life in Louisiana.

[@nyanbinary1717]

Ground News is exactly the thing I’ve been looking for to teach my students about media bias-which I’m about to start. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

[@squillz8310]

There's nothing I love more than a good teacher that wants their students to actually LEARN. I wish you the best!

[@planescaped]

I miss the Daily Show with Jon Stewart... it was probably one of the most honest news shows that has ever existed. Was never the same after he left.

[@sixstringedthing]

Pretty hard to hate on a sponsorship arrangement promoting a free service with no signups or tracking. :) "Bias Meters" for common news sources is a fantastic idea, definitely going to check out how well it has been implemented by Ground News.

[@JimAllen-Persona]

I’m going to check it out

[@mustangnawt1]

Thank you for being a teacher. Got to be such a difficult job. I didn’t know until probably my late 30’s that different media leaned any type of way. I think Covid made more folks aware. Think it’s an awful thing, still I don’t understand why it exists. Why politics & media are intertwined that way. Does it normally follow the owners or journalist’s views or what? Maybe it’s whoever pays them more in donations. It’s really creepy, like 1982 movie type stuff. Tell them never to watch that by the way. Never the same again, wished someone had warned me. But, yeah, would really help if I could tell which news was a just the facts mam type of reporting

[@uzaiyaro]

Really, regardless of mistakes, props to the architect for assisting in the rescue from his own building. No doubt he saved lives that day by giving rescuers vital information.

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

Such a shame there isn't a memorial. IMHO I believe the two men that took their own lives should be mentioned on a memorial as well as all the victims.

[@dawnstorm9768]

I just read a Washington Post article that said one is (hopefully) in the works.

[@forrestgreene1139]

Also, I suspect that was a pretty cold week for DC. Those girders were probably very shrunk down, and combined with the wall moving outward... Yikes.

[@gringa978]

The algorithm brought me to you! You have a great voice for story telling! You explain things so well someone with no prior knowledge can keep up! You don’t use a bunch of technical jargon, you do great research and the images go along with the story so well! This is a great channel! I’m about to binge watch your videos lol 😂 I can’t believe you don’t have more subscribers but with your content I’m sure it won’t be long until your channel takes off!! Keep the videos coming!!

[@Sleepyjew]

As a contractor, these kinds of stories make me so nervous off the job but more attentive on the job. Thank you for making all these awesome and informative videos for us!

[@thomasaaronartwork3867]

I'm currently in my senior year studying Mechanical Engineering, and I can't get enough of these videos. You earned a sub my friend.

[@janetcarbone4213]

My husband was a Metropolitan Police Officer from the 3rd district. It was strange for me to see this because Adams Morgan and Columbia Road was the area of his scout car and foot beat. I don’t think he even knew that happened at 18th and Columbia. Thanks for your work. I subbed!

[@craigpridemore5831]

I loved that you put the list of names at the end. It wasn't just an engineering failure. People lost their lives. Good work.

[@elizabethraworth64]

Strange as working on a mega huge dollhouse as I listen to this. Its got me doubting the strength and design. I will triple check and reinforce everything. Thanks for all of your thought provoking videos.

[@cynthiatolman326]

So many lives destroyed by lax attitudes, and unethical practices. Sadly, two men were crushed by guilt and loss, and meted out their own sentence. This obviously changed how buildings were built and inspected, and hopefully many lives were saved by that change. Thank you for your original and interesting content. (Your voice and narrative are top notch)

[@dfuher968]

Changed? On the surface, yes. Look up the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in 1981. Disturbingly similar story. And thats just 1 of the most famous 1s.

[@darthkarl99]

@@dfuher968 One of the things you'll see time and time again in all kinds of structural failure problems is that it take accidents with serious loss of life before appropriate checks and balances are put into place. The one thing that allways tends to annoy me about too many of these stories however is that no standards or checks and balances will be in place that would have prevented, yet various parties will try and often succeed in holding them accountable for not following said non-defined nor previously enforced standards. Reality is for both reasons of human psychology and practical factors, (like who someones going to pay to hire), anyone who goes beyond the laid out and enforced standards In the US this is made worse by it's tendency to have a billion different agencies for everything, each with their own piece of the country to cover. It often results in lessons learned by one entity not being learned by another.

[@JimAllen-Persona]

Imagine a lack of ethics and unethical practices in Washington, DC 😂

[@eljanrimsa5843]

@@darthkarl99 Ehm, I disagree. You don't see KZbin videos about the non-collapse of a building. But that doesn't mean all buildings collapse all the time. The lessons learned from a disaster go to improvements in the building code. As a result, the reasons why structures fail become more and more intricate. E.g. nobody would build a wall like this which is too weak from the start anymore. And everybody would at least require calculations for the novel design choices.

[@darthkarl99]

@@eljanrimsa5843 You missed my point i think. I was lamenting that it takes a disaster for those lessons to be learned in the first place. Ideally good regulatory practise should be to look at things and see what in each design submitted case and see what the weakest links are and take note, then every once in a while review all sets of notes to see if there's a common weakpoint across many designs of a similar nature and step in then and do somthing regulatory. Instead potentiol weaknesses only get noticed when somthing fails and good hard searching to see if it's a common issue generally only starts after it leads to a disaster.

[@michaelhamilton1523]

I lived for 10 years on Columbia Road about two blocks from the site of the Knickerbocker Theater. The area is called Adams Morgan now. Great video!

[@MrDlt123]

Shamefully, I have lived in DC for 18 years and have been by and on that site many times, yet Ive never connected it to the Knickerbocker Theater tragedy. If there is some type of commemorative plaque there, Ive never noticed it. If there isnt, that is sad in its own right.

[@Yosetime]

I think it's worth noting that given that this was a family theatre many of those lives lost were family members, including children. And many would have suffered for a very long time given the storm and the time it took to dig through that debris. How awful for the survivors to have to grieve this. The whole incident reminds me of the Champlain Condo collapse in Florida, which I believe this channel covered. Although not caused by a storm, many of the contributing factors are the same, 100 years later. It seems we do learn the hard way, and sometimes not well enough. I thought it was a nice touch for you to list the names of the victims here. Especially given that there isn't a memorial for them at the site. Thank you.

[@gringa978]

They say those that don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it!

[@lux.illuminaughty]

As soon as you started in about the war and the changes that were made regarding construction due to the hefty requirements of materials for the war effort, I groaned inwardly. A long time friend worked for a big cemetery in Seattle and he told me that during the wars the concrete grave liners (that the caskets are set into) were made without usual steel rebar reinforcements. Every so often the weight of the soil (+ rain making it heavier) on top of the graves will overcome the strength of the concrete liner lid and the ground will sink when the concrete gives way. He doesn't like dis-interments, but they have to replace the old liners/lids.

[@uzaiyaro]

I know about this one because it is tied with Champlain Towers South for death count, unfortunately. I hope many lessons can be learned from this disaster, also.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

This reminds me of a terrible Seoul, South Korea department store collapse. There were some signs prior, but not addressed and they could not have been really unless you just tore the building down. The design was seriously compromised part-way through (like this report). Sadly between 500 and 600 souls were lost.

[@outstretchedwings]

I believe that disaster is mentioned on the channel.

[@labrat9296]

Thank you for providing a memorial to the victims. Good job Love yall

[@marcuscoquer5958]

I am so pleased to have found this channel. It has a nice feel. Very informative, presented well, spoken nicely and well planned as a story peice. Hoping it goes well for you.

[@Liz-cmc313]

I appreciate your attention to detail. I watch many channels like this and people who are responsible for tragedies go unpunished.

[@NthReview]

Very cool and informative, I had no diea about this disaster. I've been subbed on my personal channel for almost two years and am so happy you're seeing traction!

[@confusedkemono]

Just as I was going to find something to watch during dinner, perfect timing thank you!

[@cynthiatolman326]

My favorite time to watch something good as well. I eat alone, but I set the table and make it nice. I serve myself, say grace, and pull up a good video. I love his voice and narrative

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

Can you make a video about the city archives collapse in Cologne in 2009? Countless historical artifacts were destroyed by that and unfortunately it also claimed human lives.

[@benjaminsnell3393]

Such a great channel. Thank you for revealing forgotten history, you deserve millions of subscribers.

[@2.7petabytes]

And who always pays the ultimate price!? The general public… You make excellent videos!

[@empi4106]

Thank you for another interesting report on architectural tragedies of the past.

[@necrozmaggron5840]

So sad, I shudder in fear to even think what horrors I would have seen and heard in such a horrendous disaster!

[@brucechamberlin9666]

As a 70 yo engineer, I really enjoyed your videos. Looking forward to more.

[@craigjensen6853]

That bank branch looks like it has been abandoned and probably not long for this world. Google says it's a cannabis dispensary but street view shows it boarded up with graffiti. Perhaps it will be replaced with something that pays homage to this tragedy. That was classic 1960s thinking there, knock down a beautiful (replacement) theatre for an unremarkable bank branch that itself ended up abandoned.

[@mantony39]

My grandfather was a DC fireman then

[@justuscrickets]

Another excellent installment from Brick Immortar-thanks for your work on these informative videos! Have you considered doing one on the Ramstein Air Show disaster?

[@maryeckel9682]

Well done! I've heard of this, but never saw an analysis of what went wrong and why. I can't imagine how awful it was for the people who were trapped, with the cold, the snow, and well meaning civilians climbing on the wreckage. May the dead rest in peace.

[@AwkwardKidAdventures]

I imagine you've already been told about this a million times by now, but there was a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, PA the other day that you could probably put on your list of things to cover! Eventually, anyway, since I realize they're probably still investigating. But there was a tweet from 2018 from someone who noticed one of the structural supports had rusted straight through and broken. Infrastructure, man 🥴

[@dmeemd7787]

You have such a great channel! Keep the amazing content coming, so it because you love it and don't lose that and you'll be creating great content for a long time to come!

[@lilacscentedfushias1852]

We see things like this, shake our heads & tut, although it does sometimes happen in our modern world we expect that people in charge are honourable & have morals so it’s extremely rare it happens. Yet in India & China, to name a few places the building industry is so corrupt, the supposed experts who are supposed to oversee buildings, the people high up in the local government allow it. Buildings will just fall down, bricks made with mostly sand crumble under a light touch. Cardboard used instead of proper walls, hidden under a thin layer of plaster. People do die, as we saw in Florida. No doubt since then it’s happened all over the world, a simple cause, greed & lack of morals. I watched 1 earlier & a man lightly punched his fist into a ‘wall’. It gave barely any resistance, it was cardboard with a thin layer of plaster. What use is that? It wouldn’t hold fire back. If rain or flooding got in….horrible thoughts!

[@Straswa]

Great vid Immortar, I appreciate your in-depth detail. RIP to those souls whose lives were cut short by this tragedy.

[@BeyondTheIslands]

"I didn't find a plaque, so here is my own digital one" Shivers. A superb video. Thank you so much!

[@bretthepler722]

Such good content. also the USCSB breakdowns hits kinda the same KZbin nerve for me. awesome channel.

[@sixstringedthing]

The only problem with the CSB videos is that they don't release more of them, more frequently. :)

[@danasmith3288]

Every now and then youtube gets it right. Populated for viewing, your channel popped up. I appreciate your concise unbiased approach to the event. Chronological story line with excellent graphics and pictures greatly enhance the presentation.

[@eviscer8wendigo243]

Have you ever done a video on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire? That seems like a story that’s right up your alley.

[@PaulMcCartGuitarTracks]

As a theatrical rigger in Akron, I know the theaters in my area have substantial allowable loads because the architect allowed for large snow loads. I guess this is how we learned about snow loads.

[@danielbartz7211]

I love your work! And you named every victim lost, who knows what these people would have done with the time they lost. As I read I see a lot of couples. Is there a grandpa and a grand daughter there? I see the numbers is all.

[@TR-wm3sg]

As a meteorologist I've always been interested in this event. Thank you for covering it.

[@rainydaylady6596]

I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but why do so many buildings have flat roofs? When I lived in Phoenix AZ so many houses had them and yet they seemed to have more trouble with the rain. Yes, it does rain in Phoenix. Lol. Mostly during monsoon season which causes even more damage. Not only that, but they build homes and roads in what are dried up washes and then they have trouble when a monsoon hits and there's flooding. Now, with climate change I wonder what kind of issues we'll have in Portland, OR since we're not used to large amounts of snow.

[@FranNyan]

Likely some combination of a flat roof being able to house HVAC equipment, allowing for easy additions, roof access, or it just being easy/cheap. I live in snow country, where it seems even more of a bad idea, and yet, there's one I can see from my window.

[@ZGryphon]

They're easier to build and require less material, both of which make them cheaper. Some architects also favor them for aesthetic reasons (a big building like a theater with a gabled roof tends to look like a barn, which is usually not the effect the designer is going for).

[@sixstringedthing]

In Australia we have the reverse problem. Very very few areas of the country will ever see even a light snowfall, but due to our largely Anglo-based cultural/architectural heritage we still build houses with pitched roofs for aesthetic/traditionalistic reasons, where flat roofs could do a perfectly fine job with less materials/labour and far fewer complexities re. drainage and waterproofing, while also allowing far more of the upper storey's full volume to be useable living space. But people still like the look of a pitched tile/corrugated steel roof I guess. :)

[@craigjensen6853]

@@ZGryphon Unless you're talking about the Olympia Arena in Detroit! It was affectionately known as "the barn", among other things.

[@ZGryphon]

@@craigjensen6853 Well, I did say "usually". :) (Weirdly, the Cow Palace in San Francisco doesn't have a barn roof, although it isn't flat either. More of a giant Quonset hut.)

[@johnboulton1109]

Another superb and fascinating case, thanks for producing such a well researched and interesting video. Looking forward to your next.

[@lynngehringer1073]

SUBSCRIBED! Love your voice and content! Always interesting and I learn something new with every Video! Thank you! I really appreciate the time you invest to create these stories for us!

[@jamescole1786]

6/23/22. Another great analytical report on Knickerbocker Theater Roof collapse WWI era mid 1930's. Steel availability issues, truss attachment issues, common practice issues-no independent mathamatical/engineering reviews, rush to stay on time/cost schedule but opulence in decorating satisfying mental models of the day resulted in this tragedy. Much enjoy your methods & research revealing 'big picture' cause & effect. Great investigative reporting revealing multiple layers of negligence. Surprised to hear no legal (jail time) or court/jury awarded financial penalties imposed on core individuals responsible. Assume many careers, future job awards ended + few suicides including owner & chief architect. Sad ending to good intentions...

[@Al8101]

I enjoy your writing and narration. I have questions as you move along and you always answer them in the next couple of sentences. Excellent objectivity also!!!

[@taylor7772]

Sad that the man who had this dream of a theater took his own life. How sad.

[@ElizabethMayo-sf4wg]

I fear that this video could have been longer, but it wasn't because of pressure for shorter videos. I love your hard work, I love your voice and I love your attitude.

[@BrowneyedDiva]

Thanks!

[@BrickImmortar]

Thanks so much for the support Crystal!

[@Syclone0044]

Sooo cool! I’ve been waiting to see one of these for months and this is the first one

[@jueabaddon2168]

Just found you recently and have been on a binge. Nice work.

[@thepinkyprincesspoetc.a.5767]

Brand New to your Channel Hon... Love ❤️ it! Looks like Lots of Interesting Videos to explore...Love learning about Disasters I’ve never known of till finding them on your channel! 🙏 Thanks for your hard Work and the Research it takes to put each one together...Here we Goooooooo...💚💜🤎❤️💙🧡💚

[@jfkastner]

Great work, thank you!

[@schweddyballs1163]

Man I'm glad I randomly came across to his channel instant sub. And binge watching all your vids.

[@MrMccurley]

As I do not trust rthe MSM, I am always on the lookout for independant news sources. Thank you for introducing me to Ground News...

[@Pelamore]

I appreciate your straight presentations avoiding emotional appeals. Too many Channels spend little time on WHAT happened and more on WHO it happened to. ie Tear inducing "He loved his mom and had two dogs" interviews with family and friends. I hate to sound cold, but understanding the WHO does NOTHING to help me and others avoid the WHAT and WHY.

[@meredithgrubb7027]

I swear, ur videos r so well done. Everything about them r superb. I hope this channel explodes with growth.

[@ShainAndrews]

Complementing individuals whom obviously invest a lot of time an effort only to rewarded with the bare minimal effort of partial words.

[@kokosan09]

the picture after the collapse is truly horrifying.

[@nerysghemor5781]

The parallels between this and the 35W bridge collapse really are striking. How did this not initiate more research into gusset plates and what’s required with them??

[@markolson4660]

Nice job! Especially for older disasters like this, I'd like to see more comparisons with practice and standards *of the time*. (There's no question that the construction was faulty, but how much was due to people not following contemporary good practice and how much due to deficiencies in contemporary good practice?)

[@taebundy658]

You peeps are tops!!!!! I could binge on your vids any day.

[@elen5871]

dude I audibly went "Jesus" the way you portrayed that, can't even imagine how that would have been

[@evilchaosboy]

Too many different "corner cutting" acts here. "Good enough" was the mantra at the time and it was just as wrong then as it is today. Opulence and finery are beautiful until you find yourself crushed by them. This architectural terror was compromised and they all knew it. It burns me that to this day humans will still "cut corners" given the opportunity. Great show!!! \m/

[@wilmajansenvvuuren841]

This is The Best History Lesson!Your Hard Work is Appreciated and Your Honesty!🎆

[@thetayz72]

"At a cost of $77,000, $2m today .." No, please, stop. It hurts

[@thatsaniceboulder1483]

Your work is just awesome.

[@missy6848]

I just found your channel and I absolutely love your content 💕

[@Watts378]

Another well done video 👍

[@boowiebear]

$2 Million is nothing for this building in today’s dollars. So many corners were cut!

[@lilacscentedfushias1852]

Thank you for sharing this, as with your usual work it was very interesting and delivered in an easy to understand and non dramatic way 😀 Unfortunately, we still aren’t taking it seriously, I’m in the uk & building collapses are thankfully rare without a root cause such as a gas explosion. But in countries without such good infrastructure and people in high positions willing to cut corners and take bribes, it’s a regular occurrence. How do they sleep at night

[@renneedwards9826]

Oh I know this is gonna be interesting to watch! 💯🔥

[@cyberchoys]

always waiting for a new brick immortar video :) keep it up!

[@jefff6167]

This channel rivals the quality of anything available on The History Channel. Nice work. 👍🇺🇸

[@joevermeulen8324]

Great vid. Thanks for making it. Are we going to see part two of the Korean Ferry disaster soon?

[@BrickImmortar]

Working hard toward a hopeful Feb release. A lot to cover & a very emotional story to tell...

[@eganjoe]

Interesting documentary, as are all yours I've viewed. Please consider me a supporter of your work. I'm a retired reliability engineer, former CRE, 6SBB, blah, blah, blah. Godspeed to you.

[@nope_]

Engagement for the algorithm because damn I love this stuff Also, congrats on going viral, and hello from my home feed.

[@adamantman3200]

This is still known as 'The Knickerbocker Storm' by local Meteorologists.

[@AccentYouLovingheart]

Thanks for sharing.👍🏿❤️

[@oldschoolman1444]

The continuing theme I see between the failure of structures is trying to get more with less.

[@ShainAndrews]

Basic engineering constraint. Anybody can build anything. An engineer designs it just well enough to function. Tell an engineer to design with 200% safety margins and you will get it.

[@keouine]

How odd that I have a fuzzy memory of learning about this from a plaque while living in Adams Morgan/ Dupont circle back in 1992. it must be a false memory then if there's no memorial. I must have seen the photos in a book Lost Washington.