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Midtown buildings evacuated on fears of collapse

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer | MNaanes@am-ny.com

7:27 PM EDT, May 5, 2008

Several midtown residents were forced out of their homes Monday after inspectors found cracks on the exterior of a five-story apartment building that sits next to a construction site.

A concerned person called 911 at 10 a.m., worried that the building at 307 W. 39th St., which also houses Riconcito Mexican Restaurant, may pose a danger because of the cracks, police said. Investigators found the cracks, and firefighters evacuated residents at the building as well as at a Comfort Inn next door. A building behind the apartment building, on West 40th Street, was also evacuated.

A 39-story hotel is being erected on the adjacent construction site, but the buildings department ordered it stopped until the apartment building is fixed. The building was found to be structurally sound.

The cracks had been there since early 2007 and the building's owner and the developer at the construction site had been monitoring them. Preliminary reports yesterday did not detect any movement in the cracks, the buildings department said.

"That building is not in danger of collapse however there is immediate attention that needs to be taken care of right now," said buildings department acting commissioner Robert LiMandri.

Sayed Faragalla, 34, who lives on the top floor of the apartment building, said he was in the shower when he heard pounding on the door around 10:30 a.m.

"I just got dressed quick, whatever I could grab. I asked if they could give me 15 minutes -- they said no, 5 minutes."

LiMandri ordered the general contractor of the construction site to reinforce the apartment building next door as a safety precaution. The building's owner, Frank Pecora, nor the contractor could not be reached by amNewYork yesterday.

The construction site was already placed under a partial stop work order last year for lacking approved plans for work on site. It is only allowed to build up to street level under the order.

Comfort Inn customers were allowed into their rooms after a brief evacuation. It is unclear when evacuated residents from the 39th and 40th Street buildings would be allowed back in, but the Red Cross found them temporary housing yesterday.

Faragalla said he had felt the building shake months ago, for a few seconds.

"This is probably a good thing, because one day nobody would pay attention to this and the whole building would [fall] down," Faragalla said.