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NYC vacates 4 parking garages deemed dangerous following Lower Manhattan collapse
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Apr 29, 2023
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Brittany Kriegstein/Gothamist
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Apr 29, 2023
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The city has vacated four parking garages it deemed dangerous a week after a three-story parking garage collapsed in Manhattan’s Financial District and killed its longtime manager.
The four structures were “deteriorated to the point where they were now posing an immediate threat to public safety,” said Andrew Rudansky, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Buildings, in an email.
Engineers found that a multi-level parking garage under a 25-story apartment building at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City had “extensively corroded concrete” slab reinforcements and ordered a vacate order for 60% of the parking garage. Officials also directed the building owner to provide a pedestrian protection pathway inside the garage for car owners to safely reach their vehicles.
The other 40% of the parking garage still is in normal operation, Rudansky said. He added the department ordered the building owners to retain a professional engineer to make a full structural report on the parking garage.
A two story parking garage at 2781 Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island was found in “severe disrepair,” Rudansky said. Officials mandated a full vacate order for the entire building, and no one can go inside until repairs are made. Officials also ordered the building owners to retain a professional engineer and complete a structural report on the parking garage.
Another multi-level parking garage under an eight-story apartment building at 50 Bayard Street in Chinatown was found “severely deteriorated” with “excessive cracked and spalling concrete piers in various locations throughout the parking structure,” Rudansky said. This parking garage also did not have required fire proof material in various areas.
The department ordered the parking garage area to be fully vacated, as well as the building’s cellar, but officials did not determine that the residents of the apartment needed to evacuate. The buildings department also ordered the property owner to retain a professional engineer to do a structural report on the garage, as well as a general contractor to immediately provide a temporary support structure in the compromised areas of the building.
A two story parking garage at 429 12th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn was found to be “structurally compromised” with “extensively corroded slab beams and columns in localized areas of the building.” The vehicle ramp was deteriorated and wooden roof joists on the second floor were in “a state of disrepair,” Rudansky said.
Officials issued a partial vacate order for the specific unsafe parts of the parking garage, which was around 400 square feet. The rest of the parking area can be used as normal.
The department also ordered the property owner to retain a professional engineer to do a structural report on the garage, as well as a general contractor to immediately provide a temporary support structure in the compromised areas of the building.
Attempts to reach the owners of the structures were unsuccessful.
The crackdown comes after a three-story parking garage on 57 Ann St. in Manhattan’s Financial District collapsed last week and killed its longtime manager and injured five others.
Last year, the city passed a law that requires all of New York City’s more than 1,200 parking garages to undergo an inspection by a certified professional by the end of 2027. Most parking garage owners still have four years to comply.
“Due to the unique wear and tear of these facilities sustain, regular inspections on a fixed cycle are necessary to spot issues and prevent structural failures,” Rudansky said. “Property owners have a legal responsibility to keep and maintain their private property in a safe condition.”
Tagged
department of buidlings
buildings
fatal building collapse
Elizabeth Shwe
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