'It's unimaginable': Bronx tenants recovering after devastating collapse
MORRIS HEIGHTS, Bronx (WABC) -- The partial building collapse in the Bronx left many tenants thankful that they are alive, but trying to figure out what went wrong and what to do now.
The dust rose up from the rubble after people's homes came crashing down. More than 100 tenants were displaced Monday afternoon, including Rosa Diaz who said it was a matter of time.
"In my apartment, especially where my kids sleep, it's a big line, it's a crack and they just cover with the plaster," Diaz said. "The city comes and says it's fine and that's it."
She lives on the other side of the now partially crumbled building that looks anything but fine.
The sound of it was even worse.
"It just sounded large boom," Eyewitness Yvonne Mobley said.
It's a sound Mobley won't soon forget. She said she can't get it out of her head.
The collapse is still reverberating through the neighborhood a day later.
"It's so close to home so I figured if this building is falling down, let me check my building," Mobley said.
Aging infrastructure is now top of mind, especially after seeing her neighbors run for their lives as the bricks fell.
"We were able to dig through the pile, which is a very dangerous part of the operation, I've responded to tragedies like this in the past and not find one person who was injured, it was just remarkable," said NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
Although it was extremely fortunate that the collapse wasn't deadly, undoubtedly lives were still shaken.
"I cried so much, you know, and I tried to call her and couldn't get any answer, but finally they called me back and said they're OK," said Sonia Lacen, whose friend is a tenant in the building.
Lacen held her breath while looking at the rubble. Her hairdresser lives in the building.
"She was a little devastated, you know, imagine, it's unimaginable. But they're OK, that's the main thing they're good," Lacen said.
The city says seven businesses were impacted by the collapse. New York City Small Business Services is now offering guidance for those shops.
Thirty-seven families are now trying to figure their lives out two weeks before Christmas as investigators continue their effort to find a cause.
"The owner of this building submitted their most recent report in March of 2021. That report did find unsafe facade conditions, seven of them, mortar that was deteriorating, cracked bricks," said Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo.
They did not necessarily find structural issues, the DOB said. But, HPD says there were more than 100 open violations.
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