What to Know
- Part of a seven-story residential building in the Bronx collapsed Monday afternoon, leaving apartments exposed and walls sheared off as firefighters searched the debris for hours for anyone who might have been trapped, officials said
- The FDNY's commissioner said "miraculously" no one was found trapped in the rubble after firefighters and emergency crews searched for hours
- The building had seven active violations related to the façade and the sidewalk shed, according to the Department of Buildings, which stressed these were not structural violations
Editor's note: Since the collapse, the Bronx Community Foundation set up an emergency relief fund for impact families and businesses. You can find information on that effort here.
Emergency crews continued their investigation into what may have caused the collapse of a seven-story residential building in the Bronx, which left apartments exposed and walls sheared off — but "miraculously" no one was found trapped in the rubble after an hours-long search, the FDNY said.
New videos obtained by NBC New York showed the moment of the collapse, and just how close it came to being disastrous and deadly. A video from down the block showed multiple people walking along the sidewalk underneath the scaffolding on West Burnside Avenue in the Morris Heights neighborhood. Suddenly, parts of the building came crashing down, as did the sidewalk shed. People ran for safety as debris rained down.
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Another video first obtained by News 4 from aboard an MTA bus shows a much more up-close perspective, as the vehicle was right outside the ground-floor deli — much of which was left destroyed after the collapse around 3:30 p.m. Monday. Crushed scaffolding came tumbling down suddenly, narrowly missing a BMW SUV.
A worker in a hard hat could be seen surveying the damage of a sixth-floor apartment that saw it's corner room crumble into the large pile of debris, what remains of its floor left dangling at a precarious angle. Tearing down the collapsed corner will be the next step for the city, though it was not clear when that would occur. The main focus Tuesday was on assessing the structural integrity of the rest of the building, and working to determine whether or not it needs to be demolished altogether.
Less than 24 hours earlier, emergency crews raced to the scene near Phelan Place, just a few blocks from the Major Deegan Expressway. Citizen App video showed the corner of the building collapsed to the street, with floors sagging above the debris piled below.
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The FDNY said Monday night it had gone through "a large pile of debris," up to 12 feet high in spots, and had found no trapped victims. Two people had sustained minor injuries in the process of evacuating the building, according to officials.
"Miraculously, no one was severely injured at the partial building collapse at 1915 Billingsley Terrace," Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh posted on X. "From looking at the scene and surveillance footage, it could have been so much worse."
In the hours afterward, dozens of firefighters were seen sorting through the bricks, along with twisted and jumbled metal apparently from scaffolding that had stood around part of the building. A search dog could be seen on top of the pile, part of the search for anyone who could have been buried under the rubble.
An employee of the bodega located at street level of the building told Telemundo 47 and NBC New York that people inside the shop were able to escape safely because they heard a loud noise followed by a stream of water after a pipe burst. That served as a warning that something was not right, and they all ran to safety before the collapse occurred minutes later. Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that all those inside the store made it out before the collapse.
Buildings Department records show the structure has nearly 50 apartments. Nearly 140 people were displaced, including 31 children, as a result of the collapse. Residents ran out with the clothes on their back and nothing more.
Those who met with city agencies on Tuesday were still not sure when they would be allowed back inside, or if they would ever feel safe returning to their homes.
"The building have a lot of complaints. All the tenants give a lot of complaints. Because the super and the landlord don’t fix the building, don’t fix nothing," said Julio Almonte. "I don’t know what we’re going to do in Christmas, I don’t know."
New York City Emergency Management Department Commissioner Zachary Iscol said that all power and gas had been shut off to the building in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, and the Red Cross was at the scene to assist with individuals impacted. The Red Cross was urging any displaced residents to go to to PS 396 at 1930 Andrews Avenue S for assistance.
Iscol said the department is going to "see if we can eventually move people back in at some point because there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before then."
The Department of Buildings said personnel were investigating the collapse. DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said that the seven-story building dates back to 1927, and as with any building higher than 6 stories, it falls within New York City's façade law.
There were seven open violations on the building, but none of which were structural; all had to do with the sidewalk shed around the outside of the building, regarding issues like improper lighting on it.
The commissioner said that the drawings that outline the façade work show the right-lower corner of the structure — which is where the collapse occurred — had known problems. Oddo said it is something DOB inspectors are hoping to look at.
Oddo did note that "unsafe façade conditions are not the same as an unsafe building."
Google Map images of the corner show what it used to look like, with the sidewalk shed wrapping around the building and the deli on the ground floor. That scaffolding was the subject of some of the prior violations, including one in which an inspector found wooden or metal platforms underneath it were deteriorating or missing. An inspector noted that it had the potential to lead to a stability risk.
Oddo said officials would scrutinize drawings pertaining to the collapsed area. The images were submitted as part of permitting for the façade work.
Over the summer, Mayor Adams and his building commissioner unveiled a sweeping overhaul of sidewalk shed rules intended to force buildings to get façade work done faster and get them removed. It was not immediately clear how long the sidewalk shed had been in place before Monday's building collapse.
A spokesperson for the Bronx District Attorney's Office said their investigations division to the scene and was working with the FDNY and the DOB, but added that they were not planning on conducting a separate investigation into the building's owner.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
