At least one person was killed when two buildings collapsed in East Harlem on Wednesday morning, according to authorities, and a senior city official suggested that there would most likely be more fatalities.
Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like an explosion before the buildings collapsed. Flames and smoke could be seen billowing from the street, and the force of the damage blew out windows in neighboring buildings.
At least 16 people were injured, including four seriously, according to city officials. The police said that two residential buildings — 1644 and 1646 Park Avenue — had collapsed.
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The Fire Department said it received the first report at 9:31 a.m. and was still working to determine the cause.
More from the Times here.
For a map with the location of the collapsed buildings, click here.
That’s really devastating. I read the article and I wasn’t shocked when I read that there were records from 2008 saying that one of the buildings had hazardous cracks in the structure but I was surprised when they said nothing seems to have been done about it. For 6 years, people have been living in a building that risked their safety and nothing was being done about it. That kind of makes me nervous because I was planning on renting an apartment in the area, but now I feel paranoid about the safety of the buildings. That would require extra research to be done by prospective tenants to make sure that the apartment building they are planning to live in is up to par when it comes to safety. I’m sure the collapses could have definitely been avoided if the person responsible for keeping the buildings up to par in terms of safety was willing to spend the money to fix them.
It’s not just apartment buildings. According to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future (covered by Brian Lehrer here), much of New York’s public infrastructure is in bad shape. Oy.
One thing struck me about the extensive news coverage. Back in the 70s, buildings in neighborhoods like East Harlem and certainly in the South Bronx and central Brooklyn were routinely destroyed by fire — sometimes deliberate arson, sometimes fire that resulted from terrible maintenance (and residents using faulty space heaters because they didnt have sufficient heat). That’s why fire companies were so busy in those years.
Buildings in these neighborhoods burned down with dismaying frequency — hence all the empty, rubble-filled lots — but you’d be hard-pressed to learn about it from the coverage in the daily newspapers. or local TV.
And I suspect that the investigation of the fire will receive considerable coverage and hopefully some problems will be addressed and some of those involved will be called to account. At least one hopes.
Courtney, maybe don’t contemplate a move to East Harlem just this minute!