Cars crushed after building under construction collapses in Mount Vernon
MOUNT VERNON, Westchester County (WABC) -- A vacant three-story building collapsed in Mount Vernon on Thursday morning, crushing parked cars along the street.
It happened while workers were taking a break at the building at 16 North Bond St. between Mount Vernon Avenue and Oak Street.
The three workers who had been inside were not hurt.
"They were taking a break, luckily for them, they were in the rear of the building when the collapse happened," said Mount Vernon Fire Department Chief Rodney Samson. "It was a pancaked collapse, so that means each floor just basically dropped straight down on each other."
The building was heavily damaged in a fire in 2023. The property owner had obtained permits late last year for structural work on the building.
Workers had begun shoring it up to stabilize it when the collapse happened.
As a precaution, neighboring buildings at 14 and 18 North Bond St. were evacuated.
Neighbors said they were not surprised by the collapse.
"Finally, it finally happened, what we thought was going to happen actually happened," Coreen Booth-McCall said.
Booth-McCall spoke just last week at a public hearing with the Buildings Department.
"We were very concerned about the building leaning on the 18 North Bond Street and that eventually it would collapse because it looked very dilapidated and it looked like it was getting ready to fall," Booth-McCall said.
The owner one of the vehicles that was crushed said she just bought the car a week ago.
She said she never would have parked in that spot if she knew work was being done on the building.
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