Part of building's façade collapses in New York City's Little Italy
NEW YORK -- The Department of Buildings says there was renovation work being done without a permit at a Little Italy building that partially collapsed Wednesday afternoon.
Surveillance video shows the wall fall, knocking over part of a construction fence as people start running. The FDNY says no one was hurt, but it certainly startled people in the area.
"I heard the boom, the building collapse," said Marjorie Carrillo, who works nearby. "I was scared, all the people here was scared in La Bella Vita, in this restaurant. I didn't know what to do, so we were scared, you know. It's New York, it's Little Italy, and the building's gonna collapse."
The building at Grand and Mulberry is where Alleva Dairy once stood, known as one of the oldest cheese shops in the country until it closed that location in March of last year.
The city describes it as a four-story commercial building.
People in the neighborhood say the collapse only adds to their concerns about the city's aging buildings after another partial building collapse in the Bronx last month and a deadly parking garage collapse on Ann Street last spring.
The DOB now says when they arrived at the building Wednesday, they discovered there was renovation work underway on the first floor, being done without the proper permits, including the removal all wooden floor joists.
The city is still investigating.