Bronx building that partially collapsed had 7 open violations, Department of Buildings records say
NEW YORK -- CBS New York has been digging into the history of the Bronx building that partially collapsed on Monday afternoon, and the past violations at the property.
The property has seven open violations, according to the Department of Buildings. One of those is from March of 2021, related to a hazardous conditions on the facade.
READ MORE: Video shows the moment of Bronx partial building collapse
The building is 96 years old and from a black-and-white picture obtained by CBS New York, which was taken between 1939 and 1941, not much has been updated on the exterior.
Investigative reporter Tim McNicholas found Google Street View images from November of last year that clearly show cracks in the corner of the building where the collapse happened.
"These folks, the owner of this building, submitted their most recent report in March of 2021. That report did find unsafe facade conditions, seven of them. Mortar that was deteriorating, cracked bricks. There is an active permit, a permit that is valid until next summer. Work was being done on this building as recently as a few days ago," Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said.
McNicholas also dug into Department of Transportation records and found permits were issued just Monday for sidewalk construction near the intersection. The permits were to replace the sidewalk and to use construction equipment, including a backhoe.
While the permits were issued Monday, they are not valid until later this month, so it's not clear if that work had started in any capacity. The DOB has not said whether that, or the facade problems, could have contributed to the collapse.
"I gotta be clear: unsafe façade conditions does not mean an unsafe building," Oddo said.
In November of this year, an inspector wrote about a missing mudsill at a sidewalk shed at the property, saying it could, "... compromise the structural stability causing a potential collapse, injuring pedestrians/damaging property."
But records say that was for a sidewalk shed at the property, and the city says none of the open violations are for structural hazards on the building, itself.
And as CBS New York's Lisa Rozner has reported, there are people in the neighborhood who say there was work happening on that sidewalk shed on Monday.
Needless to say, there is still a lot to investigate.
