Brooklyn Buildings Evacuated After Cracks Found In Foundation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Dozens of people have been displaced after a four-story building cracked in Brooklyn.
Structural engineers with the city's buildings department are conducting a detailed inspection of 420 Melrose Street, which now sports a long crack from the sidewalk to the top of the fourth floor.
The building, as well as residents of neighboring 418 Melrose Street, were evacuated Wednesday.
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Neighbors told WCBS 880's Monica Miller that they blame the damage on a nearby excavation project that has been going on for about a month.
"Somebody wasn't careful and now I'm out of a home," Bushwick resident Carl Morgan told 1010 WINS' Al Jones.
The pounding of construction equipment had become a part of life on Melrose Street.
"When they put down a base, you can hear like the 'boom, boom, boom, boom,'" one resident said. "That's why I have to put my dishes away."
Residents had filed complaints but they didn't realize how serious the situation was until they came home Tuesday to find that doors were no longer closing properly.
Residents claim the interior walls, windows and door frames have shifted.
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"You know my interior wall, which is exposed brick so you can see the actual structural wall pretty well, has moved from the interior walls by an inch and a half to two inches in some places," one resident said.
Residents of 418 Melrose Street have been allowed back into their homes.
Residents at 420 Melrose Street were briefly allowed back into the building on Wednesday, but only to retrieve personal items.
At this point, it's unclear how long people will have to stay out of their apartments.
