The Red Cross says its helped around 44 displaced households.
© Hannah Mattix/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK + © AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
(Bronx, NY) – The Red Cross is working to help residents of the Bronx apartment building that were displaced by its partial collapse. It was on Monday afternoon when the 97-year-old building’s corner collapsed onto the street and sidewalk below. Just two people were injured while evacuating.
The FDNY used dogs, robot dogs, drones, and infrared technology to search for human beings in the rubble. Debris piled up 12-feet high in spots. But no one was found in the rubble.
Now, the Department of Buildings is investigating, as residents reportedly complained ahead of time about things like visible cracks and falling mortar. There were also reportedly some open violations at the time of the collapse. The cleanup process started on Tuesday, and now the plan is for an “emergency demolition” of what’s left of the building. Parts of floors and ceilings were still dangling as of Wednesday morning.
City officials have responded to the incident, including Mayor Eric Adams who praised the work of first responders after they responded and worked through the night, Monday into Tuesday. Adams said “I believe in the concept of having outside individuals that are bonded, certified, go through necessary approvals. Making sure we can get those private entities to do so is something I’m going to look at and examine and we can do it and make sure it’s done safely.”
Meera Joshi is New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Operations: “We’re a city of millions of buildings and 500-something inspectors. So we will never, with boots on the ground, get to every building,” Joshi said at a Tuesday briefing.
