Yesterday afternoon at around 2 p.m., the Department of Buildings issues an evacuation order for the building at 1768 2nd Ave./301 E. 92nd St. Located near the Second Ave. Subway blast zone, this six-story, 28-unit building with three ground-floor commercial tenants is, as The Launch Box reports, in danger of collapse. This is the second building near the SAS work zone in recent weeks to be evacuated, and while the MTA says the building’s problems originate before work started on the new subway line, the agency will soon face a PR problem.
According to Ben at The Launch Box, the vacate order focuses around the leaning building. It says, “This order is issued because there is imminent danger to life or public safety or the safety of the occupants or property, in that Exposure 2 brick wall exhibit leaning 18″ towards north causing unstable load bearing wall and in danger of collapse.” Ben has some pictures of the scenes from last night and a few photos from this morning. Already, a sidewalk shed is in place along the building, but residents and business owners do not know when they will be able to return.
Meanwhile, The Post has a quote from the MTA. A spokesperson said, “The leaning condition at the buildings vacated on Second Avenue existed and was documented long before construction began.”
Earlier this month, the building at 1772 2nd Ave. had to be evacuated, and others in the neighborhood were concerned with the vibrations from the construction. For now, this is simply a developing story. The MTA has, in both cases, maintained that these buildings had existing structural problems, and based on my knowledge of the low-rise structures in that neighborhood, I’m inclined to believe them. As this project moves south, though, it will encounter areas with high-rise buildings and more residents. Hopefully, those buildings won’t be at any sort of risk.
Again, this is why the city should have built this subway line years ago. It’s far easier to build through low density areas than it is to build a new line through a heavily-populated area of the city. Such are the way of things along Second Ave.