Some NYC garages partially, totally shut by Buildings after deadly collapse
The city Buildings Department found such serious structural issues at four parking garages after last week’s fatal collapse that it immediately ordered them totally or partially shut down, officials said Friday.
The significant problems were discovered during a sweep that was launched after the Ann Street structure in the Financial District crumbled April 18, crushing one person to death and injuring five more.
“Following the building collapse in Lower Manhattan last week, DOB immediately began reviewing records of structures with parking facilities, in order to conduct targeted enforcement sweeps of similar structures with potential safety concerns or with outstanding DOB-issued violations around the City,” Buildings Department spokesman Andrew Rudansky said in a statement.
Inspectors slapped the garage at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City in Manhattan with a partial vacate order after they discovered that many of its concrete slab reinforcements were extensively corroded.
The city Buildings Department found serious structural issues at four parking garages after last week’s fatal collapse. ZUMAPRESS.com/Gina M Randazzo
The incident crushed one person to death and injuring five more. ZUMAPRESS.com/Gina M Randazzo
The garage sits beneath a 25-story apartment building, but the DOB says it did not find structural issues that would force the evacuation of the entire structure.
In Chinatown, the DOB also ordered the partial clearance of the Manhattan garage at 50 Bayard St. after inspectors found excessively cracked and spalling concrete and several steel beams that were heavily rusted and deteriorated.
That garage also sits at the bottom of an eight-story apartment building, to which DOB gave a clean bill of health.
The two other garages are across the East River in Brooklyn.
Inspectors slapped the garage at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City in Manhattan with a partial vacate order. AP/Mary Altaffer
The garage sits beneath a 25-story apartment building. Polaris/ Andrea Renault
At 2781 Stillwell Ave. on Coney Island, the DOB ruled the two-story building was in such disrepair that it ordered the entire structure vacated and told the building’s owner to hire an engineer for a fuller evaluation of what repairs will be needed.
The fourth garage, at 429 12th St. in Park Slope, was also in terrible condition, the city said. Engineers found “structurally compromised and extensively corroded slab means and columns in localized areas of the building.” They also found parts of the slab on the second floor and the vehicle ramp were “in a deteriorated condition.” It was ordered partially cleared.
All told, the Buildings Department said its inspectors and engineers hit 78 parking garages across the Big Apple that had outstanding serious violations of the city’s safety codes in the aftermath of the collapse in Lower Manhattan.
Documents obtained by The Post showed the Ann Street garage had a long history of significant structural issues, including that the connection joint between one support column and a ceiling beam had developed cracks, as had several of the walls — including some that were 11 feet long — and needed substantial upgrades to comply with the city’s fire code.
Source: New York Post
