Photo by Patricia Wise.
Two firefighters grabbed a loose piece of the cornice on the building at 257 Columbus Avenue at 72nd street on a windy Friday afternoon, witness Patricia Wise wrote. The area was blocked off briefly, but reopened later in the day. On Sunday, scaffolding started to go up around the building, she told us.
“These two members of Tower Ladder 35 were hoisted up to grab a dangling piece of cornice on the old building across the street, my floor level,” she wrote. “They snagged it and headed down. Work done, they turned around for the view and saw me at my window. They flashed me brilliant smiles and the two ladies waved and continued to the ground. And now the truck has just pulled into traffic, yellow tape pulled down, and life goes on.”
“The top of the front edge of that building looks pretty crumbly.”
Bricks have fallen from other buildings recently.
We’ve reached out to FDNY for more details.
Photo by Corrie Blatt.
Thank heavens for these firefighters!
This building, like so many others in the city, is not in the Facade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP / formerly Local Law 11/98), which mandates that buildings more than 6 stories be inspected by an architect or engineer every 5 years. That does not relieve the owner of the responsibility of maintaining the facade in a safe condition, but owners who are not required to submit a facade report to the city do not necessarily inspect their facades regularly, and these buildings can slip through the cracks as a result. It’s a real problem. In this case, it’s lucky that someone reported the condition.
I don’t think the Facade program is mandatory. Throw the book at these lazy greedy landlords!
Ugh. I meant I don’t think it’s OPTIONAL, sorry!
@MJ – FISP only applies to buildings over 6 stories, so this building does not count. It could receive a failure to maintain violation, but not any violation for lack of inspection or facade report.
That’s insane. A brick falling from 6 stories can still kill someone.
The cornice was peeled away because of the high winds in the area during the previous week.
The “crumbly” description was NOT loose brick, but peeling paint.
Settle down, people.