Niko Benelli and his teammates were walking back from Marshall Street to their dorms when one of the teammates pointed to the 3 million-pound red and orange object that looms above Syracuse University.  

“Walt,” the teammate said.  

The name has stuck for the crane, one of the largest in the world, which is being used for the current renovations to the Carrier Dome.  

Benelli, a freshman coxswain on the men’s rowing team, decided to start an Instagram page for the crane. The account, @walt.the.crane, has amassed more than 4,000 followers in less than two months. Benelli, who runs and manages the account, said he never thought it would get this big. 

Jim Jatho, the head engineer for the crane who works for Buckner Heavylift Cranes, the company that owns the crane, direct messaged the account. A few days later, the CEO of the company contacted Benelli and said he liked the Instagram. 

The CEO also told Benelli that the crane will be up for about a year. The freshman said that the account may only be a semester-long venture. 

Benelli originally believed it was just going to have a niche following, mostly from students who live near the crane, such as Lawrinson Hall, Sadler Hall and SUNY-ESF. When Benelli realized that the account was gaining popularity quickly, he decided to message the popular Instagram account @barstoolcuse for a shout out. 

“I’m literally the biggest thing on campus,” the message from @walt.the.crane read.  

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

In early September, the account had about 550 to 600 followers and he said that the direct message helped boost his following. Shortly after, a local news station reached out to Benelli for an interview. He said the account went from 900 followers to 1,900 followers overnight. 

Benelli said that it’s “hilarious” that a picture of a crane can get more than 1,000 likes. But the picture is only half of the reason for the following. Benelli said he thinks a majority of the reason people come to the page is because of the witty captions he writes.  

A lot of his posts are based on submissions from students and people in the community. Benelli said he tries to post every Wednesday with the hashtag #WaltWednesdays.  

Benelli said submissions need to be good quality photographs, and have comedic elements. Without those aspects, the posts fall flat.  

“If it’s just a picture of the crane, it’s boring. It’s a crane. It’s supposed to be boring,” he said. 

Benelli receives messages through the account every day. To deal with the overwhelming amount, he created a priority tab on the account to keep track of his messages. 

The crane will be at the Carrier Dome for another year. Lucy Messineo-Witt | Contributing Photographer

On one occasion, he said he received backlash about the account in the direct messages. Some freshmen living in Sadler said the crane’s name was “Craney,” rather than Walt. The students asked him for a name change, to which he responded no.  

The freshmen created their own account for the page. Three or four accounts impersonating @walt.the.crane were taken down in accordance to Instagram’s guidelines. These accounts were reported by followers of @walt.the.crane, which Benelli said he didn’t tell them to do.

However, many of the comments he receives about the account are positive. Henry Touma, a senior marketing and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, contacted Benelli about merchandise he designed for the crane.  

The merchandise — all sold on waltthecrane.com — features T-shirts, hoodies, hats and a phone case that depict the crane going on a “world tour.” 

The design of the clothing is based on Drake’s merchandise from his “Scorpion” album, Touma said. He added the website, design and shop took 40 minutes to create during one of his classes.  

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

Touma said despite never meeting in person, Benelli approved of the products when he saw the website. Since launching, the two have communicated solely through direct message and have gotten more than 35 orders on the website.  

“Once he makes merchandise or sells some sort of clothes or whatever, it’s just going to sell because if you look at the page, the engagement, it’s insane,” Touma said he thought prior to collaborating with Benelli. He added that Benelli is one of the smartest kids he’s ever seen on Instagram. 

Touma doesn’t know how long he will keep producing clothes and that it “depends on the attention span of the audience” of the account. But he said that if it keeps growing, he will keep coming out with more merch.  

Aside from the merch Touma created, the crane company also created their own shirts as well. 

“If the demand’s there, someone’s got to supply it,” Touma said.  

Some people have taken the crane mania a step further. SUNY-ESF students Ian Puglise and Savannah Rutt got tattoos of the crane for Rutt’s birthday.  

Puglise said the two decided on the tattoo because they see the crane every day and it’s also something “everyone” talks about. They got the tattoos before they even knew of the Instagram account. It was only after the account had about 2,000 followers, that they submitted photos of their ink.  

“When you walk away from campus the crane serves as a beacon to guide you to campus,” Puglise said. 

Published on October 24, 2019 at 12:59 am

Contact Sarah: srslavin@syr.edu