The Bronx District Attorney’s office is investigating the partial collapse of a seven-story apartment building that left dozens of tenants homeless Monday, a spokesperson told Gothamist.
Eric Steltzer, a spokesperson for Bronx DA Darcel Clark, said an assistant district attorney from the office’s investigations division is working with the city’s fire and buildings departments on their probe at 1915 Billingsley Terrace, where a corner of the building collapsed onto the sidewalk Monday afternoon.
“[The] DA’s office is working with authorities and other agencies,” Steltzer said.
Engineer Richard Koenigsberg, who flagged “unsafe” façade problems at the building with the DOB in 2020, also said he met with officials from the DA’s office Monday night. He spoke with Gothamist on his way to meet with DOB and other agency officials Tuesday morning.
“This is a catastrophic structural collapse of a column at the corner of the building,” he said. “It’s amazing no one was hurt.”
City officials have cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the cause of the collapse, and the investigation into what caused the destruction was still ongoing Tuesday morning. The DOB said the owner filed permits to correct the façade problems in June.
Briefly reached by phone Tuesday morning, building owner David Kleiner told Gothamist he did not know what caused the collapse and was busy trying to find new housing for residents.
“Right now I’m dealing with trying to relocate the tenants,” he said, adding that he “just got reports recently that all the façade work was complete and ready for sign-off.”
Tenants have long complained about conditions at the nearly century-old building and have even sued Kleiner’s company, 1915 Realty LLC, to force repairs and fix lead paint peeling from the walls, according to building and court records.
The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development has hit the landlord with more than 100 housing code violations at the…
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