Buckley Broadcasting station WOR(AM) has succeeded on its second attempt to bring down its three-tower Lyndhurst array in northern New Jersey, within sight of the New York skyline.
The demolition was aired live on WOR, which also set up coffee and doughnuts in the garage of its new transmitter building for observers.
Radio World’s Scott Fybush attended and reports that two of the 690-foot-tall sticks came down at 11:01 a.m. Thursday; the third fell a few minutes later, crumpling neatly down on itself. All fell without any sound audible to onlookers 3/4 of a mile away.
The station had intended to demolish the towers in September but the attempt was thwarted by local police, who cited safety concerns for drivers nearby. The old towers have sat alongside the New Jersey Turnpike since 1967.
WOR management, including station owner Rick Buckley, was again on hand. Fybush said some 70 people including “just about every engineer in the city” were watching, with TV news helicopters overhead and a crowd of local media.
The station had moved its transmitter site to accommodate construction of a new golf resort in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
