Three residencies issued full vacate orders after retaining wall collapse in Tremont

A retaining wall that collapse in Tremont on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 damaged five residential properties and three commercial buildings on the block.

Photo courtesy David Maggiotto/DOB

Residents from three different dwellings were still displaced from their houses in the Tremont section of the Bronx on the afternoon of Jan. 11, following the collapse of a retaining wall that damaged five residential buildings and three commercial properties on the block. 

Just before 8 a.m. on Jan. 10, a 150-foot section of a retaining wall that bordered multiple properties behind Anthony Avenue in Tremont gave way and plummeted through a nearby auto shop while damaging other properties in the process, according to Department of Buildings (DOB) Deputy Press Secretary Ryan Degan. 

There were no reported injuries — which was just dumb luck, employees of Carter Auto Repair said — but the residents of 1760, 1758 and 1756 Anthony Ave. were issued full vacate orders from the DOB “in the interest of public safety and due to the severe extent of the damage,” Degan said. 

“The vacate order will remain in place until the building owners repair the property and ensure that it is both safe and code compliant,” he said.

Degan told the Bronx Times that all residents displaced by the collapse were offered emergency relocation assistance from the American Red Cross. 

Another two residential buildings at 1752 and 1754 Anthony Ave. were damaged, as well as Carter Auto Repair at 1765 Carter Ave., and two other commercial properties at 1767 and 1769 Carter Ave. 

Since the 150-foot stretch of wall sat on multiple private properties, Degan said it’s the joint responsibility of those property owners to “properly maintain the retaining wall in good condition.” 

And while he said there hadn’t been a complaint about the wall filed with the DOB, inspectors determined it was “in a state of disrepair” and issued a partial vacate order for “multiple…