Four-Story Building on Myrtle Collapses
The four-story, white-brick building at 493 Myrtle Avenue that housed the Vesper bar on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors collapsed to the ground yesterday afternoon at around 2 p.m. According to The Local, which has a detailed account of the incident, 14 people lived in the building but none of them…
The four-story, white-brick building at 493 Myrtle Avenue that housed the Vesper bar on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors collapsed to the ground yesterday afternoon at around 2 p.m. According to The Local, which has a detailed account of the incident, 14 people lived in the building but none of them were seriously injured; a girl who lived next door had to be rescued by the Fire Department. The Times also reported that the Department of Buildings issued vacate orders for six buildings on the block while officials evaluate their structural condition. An official cause has not been determined, but the building had received a violation in May for a large visible crack in its eastern wall; the owner blames facade work at the building next door. In an interview on Clinton Hill Blog, an eyewitness describes the collapse as “kinda gradual” and says that the Fire Department was already on hand before the entire building was reduced to rubble. There’s a great photo set here. Update: We’ve posted a photo of the building pre-collapse in this post. Another Update: Tish James’ blog is trying to raise money for a girl who lived at 491 Myrtle and now needs clothes for her graduation on Thursday.
Building Collapse on Myrtle [NYT/Local] GMAP
4-Story Brooklyn Building Under Repair Collapses [NY Times]
Apartment Building Crashes Down [NY Post]
Building Collapse in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn, Injures 4 [NY Daily News]
Eyewitness Account of the Collapse [Clinton Hill Blog]
Photo by Geralyn Shukwit
I spent many a long night drinking at the Gardens (before it became vesper). It is too bad a part Pratt history has fallen.
6/21 never forget !
I think he lot next door was covered with tar or concrete.
The collapsed building is hardly the same as the well constructed turn of the century buildings to the left of it. The facade was not original, if indeed the entire building was not put up much later than the ones beside it. That much is very obvious from the photo pre collapse.
rob you are so fucking clueless sometimes. do you really think that if all you stuff and your home was just destroyed rendering you homeless you would be worried that people see your porn collection? retard asshat plusa of the day.
“Leave the pets, take the porn.”
i was inspecting closely the rubble, and you can totally see peoples personal things strewn about. how embarrassing would it be to have ones porn collection out on display for the world to see and not be able retrieve it? sam makes a good point, they should be allowed to go salvage what they can before looters do.
*rob*
doldrums, you should not make the assumption that the department of buildings will let tenants back into the adjacent building to retrieve possessions. As awful as it sounds, if they believe there is a real emergency, and if the media spotlight is turned on, they can be pretty ruthless. Allowing people back in to pick-up belongings and find hiding cats undermines the case that the building has to be taken down immediately. Assuming that the owner will sue the city for unrightful taking, they need to keep an eye on the lawsuit and the media, the tenants come last. You have not been around much if you think such things don’t happen, or perhaps you are just rude and like to call people inane.
fsrq – there’s a before picture now at the top of the blog.