Bronx partially-collapsed building demolition continues, tenants finally allowed inside to retrieve belongings
NEW YORK -- The process to demolish part of the Bronx building that partially collapsed got underway Thursday.
Some tenants were finally allowed back inside to retrieve their belongings for the first time since they were forced out. Even those whose apartments weren't in the collapsed section had to wait for the Department of Buildings to let them in.
Starting late Thursday afternoon, tenants were being given about 20-30 minutes to go in and retrieve belongings. Only one or two were allowed in at a time.
Watch Doug Williams' report
Earlier, they watched from the corner of West Burnside Avenue and Phelan Place in Morris Heights as a demolition crew evened out overhanging floors and walls that survived the Monday collapse.
One man told us his sixth-floor apartment was exposed in the partial collapse. His bed and other furniture could be seen from blocks away. He told us he feared for the safety of his two cats after he was unable to rescue them before the Department of Buildings stopped letting residents go inside.
In a statement released Thursday, the department said work would be paused "while residents are escorted into the building to retrieve belongings."
"I want to collect my memories, my medicine," said Norma Arias. "The supervisor went to get all the animals, through all the floors. Why they don't let me go in the first floor of the building? It's right there!"
Arias, a 69-year-old cancer survivor, said she also struggles breathing at night without oxygen. The apparatus for her oxygen was left in her apartment.
Miriam Rodriguez had 30 minutes to pack up 30 years in her apartment.
"Documents, some clothes, my mother's ashes and my brother's ashes," she said.
For some, what they took isn't even as important as what they left behind.
"The worst part is I have pets upstairs that are lost, and I can't find them so it's really stressful," resident Amy Baez said.
Many residents have been living in the building for decades and complaining of crumbling structural issues for the past few years.
Watch Elijah Westbrook's report
"I ran in with my mom and we just grabbed some things really quickly, and now we're just waiting for my godmother and my sister to go up to her apartment and also get some things," resident Vin Samuel said. "Just because of the collapse, that is not the only issue. This building needs a complete renovation, a complete overhaul, i.e., demolition and just build a new building."
Samuel worries where her parents will go next.
"They're going to be housed in a shelter downtown in Manhattan, as far as my understanding is, until further notice," she said.
The Red Cross has been helping 54 of the displaced families, but their temporary shelter ends Friday, and from there, the City Housing Preservation Department is working to re-house them.
"They're directed to contact emergency housing services, and we help them with the next steps in one of our emergency housing options," said Ahmed Tigani, first deputy commissioner for the HPD.
Many residents told CBS New York even if city inspectors allow them to move back, they wouldn't feel safe to.
Investigators have yet to determine what caused Monday's collapse, but we know the property had over 100 open violations and countless complaints from residents.
"A lot of the violations we saw here were focused on many serious quality-of-life issues like mice infestation and pests. There were window defects," Tigani said.
Wednesday, the building's landlord dodged our questions.
"He should not be a landlord. He should not be an owner of any type of building, any type of facilities that house people, because everything that has happened here has been absolutely inhumane and disgusting," Samuel said.
"Were any of the violations with HPD that this building had something that could have possibly led to a collapse?" Bauman asked Tigani.
"Our analysis shows none of the open violations listed for this building on HPD online could have been indications for structural instability," Tigani said.
The HPD deputy commissioner says his department has already helped 33 households secure emergency shelter fully covered by the city past Friday.
Thursday, a group of tenants said they tried confronting the landlord about potentially finding other apartments.
"Yeah but for what? It's gonna be the same thing. They don't fix nothing. You pay rent, they don't do anything," said Diana Martinez, one of the tenants. "I have a 7-year-old boy, he has autism, I have a girl who is 6 years old and I have a baby ... It's hard to tell them that you don't have a place to go back."
CBS New York has learned the Bronx District Attorney's Office was on the scene investigating any potential criminality related to the collapse.