Home Second Avenue Subway DOB orders another 2nd Ave. evacuation

DOB orders another 2nd Ave. evacuation

by Benjamin Kabak

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.

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10 comments

petey June 30, 2009 - 1:59 pm

“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.”

i live in a low-rise structure in this neighborhood, and MTA could be correct. many of the buildings (inc. mine) were built in the 19th century and while still fundamentally sound have had lots of time to settle, sometimes into odd angles. of course it’s case-by-case (i don’t know the two buildings involved), and if there weren’t blasting any pre-existing problems might not by themselves be threatening.

which leads me to wonder, since “re-existing problems” can cover a wide range of structural weakness, some of it not dangerous in se but not good to have in the presence of blasting, how is the contribution of SAS work to any fault-finding in the case of a collapse measured?

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petey June 30, 2009 - 2:01 pm

sorry, that should read “pre-existing problems”. i put it in quotes because it sounds like a technical term.

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Ed June 30, 2009 - 3:26 pm

this is a PR disaster about to happen. Word has it owners of both buildings are about to file lawsuits on this one.

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Sally June 30, 2009 - 10:04 pm

The buildings on either side of 1768 were also issued vacate orders by the Dept. of Buildings. Around 6:00 this morning, the north-bound sidewalk in front of these buildings was closed off. If NYCT knew these buildings were stucturally unsound, then they shouldn’t have started construction without shoring them up.

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Ron June 30, 2009 - 11:01 pm

I agree with this. While the 2nd Ave Subway may have been planned 1,000 years ago, it’s not being built until now. If there is a pre-existing condition shouldn’t it have to be rectified before someone makes it worse?

I’m not saying NYCT (or MTACC) should be responsible to fix the condition – just that it should have to be corrected before any digging makes the condition (that they knew about) worse.

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is it legal June 30, 2009 - 11:31 pm

So are they now doing loud construction at NIGHT in front of the CVS at 72 and Second Ave??? They are running some incredibly loud rythymic drill right now, they have the lights on, and it’s 11:30 at night!

Is this legal?

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Alon Levy July 1, 2009 - 11:11 am

Probably no less than the noise made by people sitting on stoops in Harlem. If the city doesn’t try to reduce nighttime noise in Harlem, it shouldn’t try to do it on the Upper East Side.

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susan jones July 2, 2009 - 3:00 pm

Alon, your a moron. Move to New Jersey

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Tenants upset at Second Ave. evacuations :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog July 1, 2009 - 3:58 pm

[…] afternoon, I reported on a building evacuation along Second Ave. near the Second Ave. Subway work zone. Due to a leaning structure, residents and […]

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Lake Flaccid July 2, 2009 - 9:03 pm

As a transcoaster, I should point out (although I suspect NY is far less susceptible) that these types of issues are responsible for the biggest mass transit heartbreak of the last 30 years: The discontinuation of the LA Metro underneath Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica (Subway to the Sea).

Construction caused gas explosions and cave-ins (proximity to the La Brea tar pits), and the despicable Henry Waxman (thankfully in the hospital) axed federal funding. Sadly useless to anyone but North Hollywood commuters, what remains of the system is truly stunning, especially the station at Vermont/Sunset.

I suspect the MTA is much more insulated from UES pols, but history leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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