NEW YORK — The process to demolish part of the Bronx building that partially collapsed got underway Thursday.
Some tenants were finally allowed back inside to retrieve their belongings for the first time since they were forced out. Even those whose apartments weren’t in the collapsed section had to wait for the Department of Buildings to let them in.
Starting late Thursday afternoon, tenants were being given about 20-30 minutes to go in and retrieve belongings. Only one or two were allowed in at a time.
Watch Doug Williams’ report
Earlier, they watched from the corner of West Burnside Avenue and Phelan Place in Morris Heights as a demolition crew evened out overhanging floors and walls that survived the Monday collapse.
One man told us his sixth-floor apartment was exposed in the partial collapse. His bed and other furniture could be seen from blocks away. He told us he feared for the safety of his two cats after he was unable to rescue them before the Department of Buildings stopped letting residents go inside.
In a statement released Thursday, the department said work would be paused “while residents are escorted into the building to retrieve belongings.”
“I want to collect my memories, my medicine,” said Norma Arias. “The supervisor went to get all the animals, through all the floors. Why they don’t let me go in the first floor of the building? It’s right there!”
Arias, a 69-year-old cancer survivor, said she also struggles breathing at night without oxygen. The apparatus for her oxygen was left in her apartment.
Many residents have been living in the building for decades and complaining of crumbling structural issues for the past few years.
“I ran in with my mom and we just grabbed some things really quickly, and now we’re just waiting for my godmother and my sister to go up to her apartment and also get some things,” resident Vin Samuel said. “Just because of the collapse, that is not the only issue. This building needs a complete renovation, a complete overhaul, i.e., demolition and just build a new building.”
Watch Elijah Westbrook’s report
Wednesday, the building’s landlord dodged our questions about more than 100 open violations and crumbling conditions.
“What do you say to the residents here whose homes are destroyed?” CBS New York’s Ali Bauman asked.
“Thank God everyone is safe, and hopefully everybody except for that six apartments will be restored as soon as possible,” the landlord said. “Why weren’t repairs being made? There were over 100 violations,” Bauman asked. “Who was in charge of making these repairs here?”
“You don’t belong over here,” the landlord said before walking away.
Thursday, a group of tenants said they tried confronting the landlord about potentially finding other apartments.
“Yeah but for what? It’s gonna be the same thing. They don’t fix nothing. You pay rent, they don’t do anything,” said Diana Martinez, one of the tenants. “I have a 7-year-old boy, he has autism, I have a girl who is 6 years old and I have a baby … It’s hard to tell them that you don’t have a place to go back.”
The Red Cross has been helping more than 170 displaced residents, but their temporary shelter ends Friday, and from there, the City Housing Preservation Department is working to re-house them.
The city has yet to determine what caused the collapse.
CBS New York has learned the Bronx District Attorney’s Office was on the scene investigating any potential criminality related to the collapse.
