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Residential Real Estate Hits Bottom on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn
June 25, 2009 by Neil · Leave a Comment
A four-story residential and commercial building collapsed in a cloud of debris on Sunday in Brooklyn, temporarily trapping a young girl in an adjacent structure but causing no serious injuries, city officials said.
The building, at 493 Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill, fell shortly before 2 p.m., leaving a pile of rubble and a wall of scaffolding from work that was being done to repair cracks in the building’s exterior wall, according to city officials and the building’s owner, William Sang.
A bar and lounge called the Vesper on the first floor was closed at the time, and while there were people in the building moments before the collapse, all of the residents of the upstairs apartments were accounted for, officials said. A man in his mid-30s was treated at Brooklyn Hospital Center for bruises on his arm, and three other people refused medical attention, the Fire Department said. The young girl who was temporarily trapped was unharmed, officials said.
Emergency crews continued to search through the debris in the afternoon, while inspectors with the city’s Buildings Department were examining the integrity of buildings on both sides of the fallen structure. The Buildings Department issued vacate orders for six buildings on the block, said Tony Sclafani, a spokesman for the department.
Fire crews were already on their way to 493 Myrtle Avenue after receiving reports of falling bricks, she said. They arrived seconds before the collapse.
“If any of the men had gone in, it would have been a Father’s Day disaster,” Ms. James said.
About 14 people lived in the two buildings, Mr. Sang and residents said.
The fallen building had several active violations, including one issued May 1 after complaints from tenants of shaking and vibrations, and another for working without a proper permit. An inspector noted at the time vertical cracks running from the ground floor to the roof level. The inspection also found cracks in the interior on the third and fourth floors, according to Buildings Department records.
A hearing on the violation had been scheduled for Monday, but Mr. Sang, the building’s owner, said it had been postponed until later in the summer to give him time to fix the problems.
Mr. Sang, who said he bought the building in 2006, said that the crack had been there for 10 years and that when the Buildings Department inspected it a month ago, “they said there was a crack but that it was O.K. to have tenants.”
Jose Diaz, who lived there for eight years before moving to 491 Myrtle, said, “The whole thing always shook. It always had many cracks in the wall.”
Mr. Diaz’s wife, Carolyn Diaz, said that even in the building next door they could feel the shaking. “I’m just glad it happened when we could get out.”
Source: 4-Story Brooklyn Building Under Repair Collapses, New York Times, Ray Rivera & Andy Newman, 6/22/09
