3 People Hurt In Building Facade Collapse In The Bronx

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Three people were hurt after the facade of a building collapsed in the Bronx.

It happened around 10:30 p.m. Sunday at 391 East 149th Street and Melrose Avenue in the Mott Haven section -- a bustling area with shoppers going up and down the street.

The awning and concrete of one of the stores suddenly came crashing down on the sidewalk, injuring three people, one of them seriously. She was taken to Lincoln Hospital to be treated.

According to the Department of Buildings website, the building did not have any active or recent violations, but the DOB has now issued a violation to the building owner for a failure to maintain the building.

Nearby business owners and street vendors say the collapse is affecting them.

"This is where we sit to get our living," resident Christina Sieh told CBS2's Jessica Borg. "It do harm to our business, we are here, we don't have no customers. We're just sitting here looking so it's not good for us."

Meanwhile, others who work inside the building are grateful it didn't happen Monday morning.

"We are actually concerned, yeah, because it could have happened while we were in there or maybe while we were walking by or coming out of the building," one woman told 1010 WINS' Samantha Liebman.

The six story commercial building had no active or recent code violations, but the Department of Buildings has now issued a violation to the building owner for 'failure to maintain the building.'

Ricky Singh's scaffolding company is working fast to put up netting for safety.

"Something fell down, it come on the bridge, not on the road," he said.

The MTA warned passengers that southbound 2 and 5 trains at the nearby stop will be at reduced speed because the building above ground is unstable.

The hope is that repairs will be made soon, and life in the neighborhood will resume.

In:
• Bronx