Brooklyn collapse draws more attention to New York City's aging infrastructure
NEW YORK -- A structural collapse at a commercial building in Brooklyn is drawing attention to the city's aging infrastructure.
Several businesses were forced to vacate after a protective wall came crashing down over the weekend, less than a month after the deadly parking garage collapse in Manhattan.
"People started screaming, yelling, 'Watch out! Watch out! Watch out!'" said smoke shop owner Hassan Sall.
The collapse came without warning, Sall said. One minute he was on the phone joking friends, then bricks started falling from above.
"When I came out, part of the building had already fallen down, and then the rest of the building up was trembling," said Sall.
The Department of Buildings said a 75-foot-long parapet wall above six commercial businesses on Avenue T suddenly gave way Sunday afternoon.
Nick Rago, who owns Dolly's Ices, narrowly avoided injury by running out the back door.
"Everybody would have been killed, whoever was standing there, or really hurt," said Rago.
DOB issued a full vacate order, requiring the property to be fenced off. Inspectors also issued a violation to the property owner for failure to maintain the building.
"I'm here 11 years, no inspectors," said Rago, who wondered why the building didn't face scrutiny before.
According to the city, maintenance of a private property is the owner's responsibility.
The city does not conduct routine inspections of small commercial buildings, but some experts argue it's time for change and that the city should create a high-priority list.
"I think the indication could be the year of construction, plus some structural elements that sometimes deteriorate a little bit faster. Paying attention to parapets, I think it's very, very important, especially facades," said Luis Ceferino, a civil engineering professor at NYU.
CBS2 reached out to the building's management office to ask about the timeline for repairs and when the last inspection was, but they had no comment.
