Loose bricks on East Village building shut down part of Third Avenue

EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A part of Third Avenue is closed in the East Village as the fire department responded to reports of a building with loose bricks on its facade on Wednesday.

Crews hoisted a massive crane 11 stories up in order to use the equipment they needed to stabilize a section of the building at the corner of 9th Street and 3rd Avenue in the East Village.

"I saw the firefighters come here and just then someone pointed out to me the bricks and two cracks on the wall," Ehsan Kabil, a witness.

Marty McFeesh and his cousin were evacuated from the building, saying it was frightening to watch pieces of the structure come crashing down.

"Around 7:10, the rocks started falling down and everybody was screaming and running," McFeesh said.

As firefighters boarded up the loose bricks, police moved the crowd back. They were concerned for the safety of pedestrians and drivers below.

"I'm inconvenienced because I can't get a bus, but on the other hand, if people are in danger that really because a tertiary concern," said Janet Fisher, a resident.

As first responders make sure the building was safe, a few residents are figuring out where to stay Wednesday night.

"It's crazy because we pay way too much money to be figuring out what's going on. And as you can see, they still have the crane still trying to figure out and still are evacuating people. But we won't know anything until the morning," McFeesh said.

What exactly caused all of this is still under investigation.

This is a 15-story, 260-unit residential building. Some of the residents said the bricks on the front of the building were loose.

Firefighters say two apartments had to be evacuated from the building at the corner of East 9th Street and West 3rd, shutting off traffic to the area.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

MTA buses are currently being rerouted in the area.