Residents describe other unsafe conditions at Bronx building that collapsed
NEW YORK - We've been digging into the history of the Bronx building that partially collapsed Monday.
The building's facade was "unsafe" but not an immediate danger in a 2020 engineering report. That report included photos of cracks, and Monday the CBS 2 Investigative team discovered Google Street view images from a year ago showing cracks on the corner of the building that collapsed.
The city says they're still investigating the cause of the collapse and they haven't said whether any of that contributed.
Tuesday, we showed all those images to Dr. Sammy Tin, a structural engineering expert with the University of Arizona.
"The cracks in the façade may have exposed some of the underlying structural elements of the building, and perhaps accelerated some of the degradation that could have potentially contributed to the collapse of the building," Tin said.
The Department of Buildings says there has been some construction work happening on the façade as recently as a few days ago. There are several open violations, including one from 2021 related to hazardous façade conditions.
On another note, residents said that just a few weeks ago a chunk actually fell from the ceiling near the main entrance. They say it's just one example of the problems they've dealt with, and that the building has been in disrepair for years.
Three residents told CBS New York's Tim McNicholas a chunk fell from the ceiling just inside the main entrance just a few weeks ago. One woman said the chunk was bigger than her head.
"Right when you come into the building, in the entrance there, a piece of the ceiling actually fell in," resident Jacqueline Tomlinson said.
Tomlinson and her neighbors said that is just one example of the problems in their building. Another is the buildings façade, labeled "unsafe" but not an immediate danger in a 2020 engineering report that included photos of cracks. Residents said those weren't the only cracks in the building.
"In my apartment, especially where my kids sleep, it's a big, big line. It's a crack, and they just cover it with plaster," resident Rosa Diaz said.
As for the Google Street View images from a year ago showing cracks on the corner of the building?
"That crack should have definitely been inspected and perhaps repaired," Tin said.
The city says the cause of the collapse is still under investigation.
"We are a city of millions of buildings, and 500-something inspectors, so we will never, with boots on the ground, get to every building," New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said. "The tools that we have are the fines that we can impose for those that are not in compliance or fail to do work in a timely manner, but we are looking to sharpen those tools for sure."
As we reported Monday, there are seven open violations at this property in the Department of Buildings records, including an active violation from 2021 for those façade issues and, according to Housing Preservation and Development, there are more than 100 open violations – 48 of them are class C – known as "immediately hazardous violations."
We have been trying to reach the landlord, but we haven't heard back yet.
