Police and fire officials are investigating the collapse of a building façade in Little Italy Tuesday afternoon.
At 2:58 p.m. on Jan. 10, the FDNY responded to a report of bricks falling from the building at 188 Grand St. FDNY units reported that there was a partial collapse of the first floor’s brick façade, creating a massive hole in the building.
Sources at the scene told amNewYork Metro that renovations were happening on the first floor of the building and that people were reportedly working inside with support beams when something went wrong. Those who were in the building on the first and second floors were able to get out of the building safely.
“I heard a boom. I saw the building and the people were in the window looking, people were screaming ‘Get out, get out of the building. Leave the building!’ It was scary,” said Marjorie Carrillo, who works near the scene. “It looked like an earthquake.”
The building is the former home of Alleva Dairy, which was open for 130 years and was the city’s oldest cheese shop. The shop closed up last year after it fell behind on rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FDNY K9 Unit completed searches of the scene and there are no reported injuries at this time.
The DOB and Con Edison were both notified about the situation.
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