Upper East Side Building Evacuated Due To Worries About Falling Bricks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Three days after falling bricks closed roads on the Upper East Side, worries have mounted about new areas being hit.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, a vacate order has been issued from for the wood-framed residential building at 346 E. 63rd St.
The structure is located next to a building with a crumbling façade, and the Department of Buildings said residents had to leave over fear that bricks could come crashing into their home.
Gino Fenech, the building's super helped all 16 tenants leave safely.
"I got called by the Building Department that they're going to evacuate the building, and they needed me over here to make sure the tenants are out," Fenech said.
The FDNY said Monday night that bricks fell from a 32nd floor façade onto the street both in front of and behind the neighboring building on First Avenue and 64th Street.
Over the last few days, a team put scaffolding up but inspectors fear further collapse. The Department of Buildings said the plan is to install protective netting to catch anything that may fall – in what would amount to a temporary fix while the façade wall is rebuilt.
Traffic has also been shut down on First Avenue between 60th to 64th streets -- a sea of brake lights.
"We are not moving," one taxi driver said. "Maybe I'll sleep over here."
Residents along blocks in the neighborhood are equally fed up.
One resident said it has been "horrible, coming home from work -- look what I have to go through."
"Traffic is blocked off for blocks and blocks and blocks," added resident Lawrence Rich.
"It is what it is," added Deborah Anderson, who works on the Upper East Side. "I just wish it would just hurry up and be over."
And with the traffic also comes the noise.
"What good do those people think they're doing honking that way?" one neighbor said.
"We're all going to be deaf," another said.
"Three a.m. is the same as 3 p.m.," a third said.
Businesses were also shut down near the scene. It was not known late Thursday when First Avenue would reopen, as the Buildings Department wanted to make sure the area was safe first.
