This famous NYC skyscraper was almost toppled by winds and the people who worked inside it had no idea of the danger they were in

The Citicorp Tower has been a Manhattan skyline icon for nearly a half-century with a glimmering silhouette and unique, prism-topped roof.  The 54-story skyscraper was dedicated on Oct 12, 1977, by Gov.Hugh Carey and Mayor Abe Beame.

Less than a year later, chief engineer William LeMessurier found it had a 1 in 16 chance of toppling over in hurricane winds.The discovery set off a frantic effort to save it without letting the public know — with the summer hurricane season fast approaching.

It was “one of the greatest engineering crises in history,” Michael M.Greenburg, the author of “The Great Miscalculation: The Race to Save New York City’s Citicorp Tower” (NYU Press/Washington Mews; out Tuesday), told The Post.

“I was immediately drawn to LeMessurier’s story — the moral aspect of it, the dichotomy between heroism and cover-up.”LeMessurier, who was busy on many other projects, knew he hadn’t paid enough attention to Citicorp after he turned it over to a team of engineers.He had to decide between alerting Stubbins and Citibank chairman Walter Wriston to his mistakes — thus jeopardizing his reputation and career — or remaining silent and praying the worst wouldn’t happen. Although LeMessurier ultimately came to the rescue in time, his legacy is tainted, Greenburg writes, by his “failure to provide adequate direction and oversight …  in the development of the Citicorp Center engineering drawings, calculations and revisions.”Greenburg weaves a compelling, thriller-like narrative.

The 1977 blackout plunged the metropolis into darkness and rioting.The city had barely averted bankruptcy and corporations were fleeing for the suburbs.The exception was Citibank.

Wriston wanted to create a signature skyscraper on Manhattan’s East Side.He secretly assembled a large site between Lexington and Third Avenue, between East 53rd and 54th.One challenge remained: St.

Peter’s Lutheran Church, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and ...