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‘We can’t catch a break’: Bronx building partially collapses

Phil Corso

Charles Lane

David Brand

Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky

and

Catalina Gonella

Published Dec 11, 2023

Modified Dec 11, 2023

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Emergency responders, firefighters respond after a partial building collapse in the Bronx.

Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images

Phil Corso

Charles Lane

David Brand

Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky

and

Catalina Gonella

Published Dec 11, 2023

Modified Dec 11, 2023

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

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Authorities were sifting through the rubble of a seven-story Bronx building on Monday after it partially collapsed, exposing its damaged interior.

An entire corner of the building at 1915 Billingsley Tce. collapsed onto the sidewalk below around 3:30 p.m., authorities said. A spokesperson for the FDNY said there were no reports of injuries as of Monday night, but responders were using K-9 teams to search for any people who may have been trapped.

Officials said the seven-story mixed use building included 47 residential units and six commercial units. The building was a stand-alone building and no other buildings were affected, the spokesperson added. Multiple businesses along the street were also evacuated.

Nearby neighbors gathered along nearby West Burnside Avenue in shock at the sight, with many expressing worry for the residents of the building, but also concern for the structural integrity of their own homes. Floors were left dangling, except for an apartment on the top floor, where a bedroom was visible from the street.

Angel Soto lives in the building and told Gothamist he was working from home when the collapse began.

“The ground started shaking. I thought it was an earthquake,” Soto said. “I went outside and told my mom, ‘I think it’s an earthquake. We’ve got to do something.' So I open the door and the super was there and he said it was falling apart, the building, and we had to get out.”

FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said emergency workers were tunneling into the debris pile in the hours after the collapse. They had not found anyone as of Monday night, he said.

“We don’t know what caused the corner of the building to come down, and we don’t know if any more of it is going to come down,” he said. “But we’re searching for life and that’s our main objective at this time.”

Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said the building was built in 1927 and was undergoing facade work. The building's owner, according to Oddo, submitted a report on March 21.

“That report did find unsafe facade conditions, seven of them,” Oddo said. “Mortar that was deteriorating, cracked bricks.”

Oddo stressed that unsafe facade conditions does not mean the building was unsafe. He said the plans submitted for a building permit pertained to the lower right corner of the building that collapsed.

Officials said residents of the building were being directed to nearby P.S. 390, where teams will help them find a place to stay for the duration of the event.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation has issued at least 103 violations at the building, including 48 Class C, or “immediately hazardous” violations. HPD received three heat outage complaints at the building over the past month, records show.

A screenshot from the Citizen app shows the structural collapse in the Bronx in December.

Screenshot via the Citizen app

Workers in the area said the officials have closed the businesses in the area and told people to leave.

“We saw the smoke and the people running,” Sesoves Tabaraca, an employee of the nearby Bx Marketita, said in a phone interview. “When I opened the door, I saw that the building fell down.”

Tabaraca described seeing both big and small pieces of the building fall to the ground. He didn’t see anyone hit by the falling pieces, he added.

City Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, who represents the area, told Gothamist the collapse was yet another blow to a reeling community.

"We can't catch a break," Sanchez told Gothamist from the scene. "This community has been plagued with so many issues. Housing quality is at the top of the list. The Twin Parks fire was not too far away. There's...it's a lot of stress on the community. It's really sad."

A Brooklyn company called 1915 Realty LLC that lists Yonah Roth as head officer and David Kleiner as manager on property records has owned the apartment building since 2004, when it purchased the building for $3 million, records show. The company has been sued at least five times by people who said they were injured at the building since 2021, according to court records.

Roth did not answer phone numbers associated with them. A person who answered a phone number associated with Kleiner said he was not available to speak.

Tagged

public safety

bronx

the bronx

Phil Corso

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Phil Corso is the evening news editor at WNYC/Gothamist. Got a tip? Email [email protected].

Charles Lane

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Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715