Jun 28, 2013 1 min read VRA

Residents Allowed Back Inside After Façade Collapse at Hanson Place Brownstone

By Tuesday morning, a sidewalk shed surrounded 89 Hanson Place, and a vacate order was taped to the door. (Photo by Amanda Woods) — Two days after a chunk of the façade of a Hanson Place brownstone crashed from the second story onto the sidewalk, the city Buildings Department allowed residents to return to their apartments. (Photo by Amanda Woods)

The New York City Department of Buildings lifted its vacate order at 89 Hanson Place on Wednesday after the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development erected a protective sidewalk shed in front of the three-story building, buildings department records show.

A 10-by-4-foot section of the building’s façade plummeted to the sidewalk around 11:20 a.m. on Monday, scattering chunks of concrete on the sidewalk on Hanson Place between South Portland Avenue and South Oxford Street. No one was injured in the collapse, although debris just missed a client of the neighboring Adore A Salon Concept who was sitting on a bench outside, according to Zania Luke, a salon employee. “She was shaken up,” Luke said.

The buildings department is investigating the cause of the mishap and the city’s fire department has requested a structural stability inspection of the 83-year-old building, according to buildings department records. The incident forced the evacuation of about eight residents.

Attempts to reach Dorothy Schechter, the building’s owner, and residents, were unsuccessful.

An American Red Cross representative visited the brownstone soon after the collapse on Monday to determine if residents needed emergency housing or money for food and clothes, but found no one was home, according to Michael de Vulpillieres, a communications officer for the organization’s Greater New York City office. The representative attached a notification to the building’s intercom, notifying residents to call 1-877-REDCROSS if they need assistance.

The building has four dismissed buildings department violations, from 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009 – all for failure to file an Annual Boiler Inspection Report with the department. There are no current work permits on the building, according to buildings department records.