Photo by Síle Moloney
Residents on East 205th Street in Bedford Park between the Grand Concourse and Mosholu Parkway logged several 311 complaints after they were kept awake by loud banging of metal and drilling late on Tuesday night, Oct. 7, amid construction by City workers of scaffolding in front of 200 East 205th Street.
“They shouldn’t be doing it late at night,” Elizabeth Quaranta, local resident and executive director of Future of Mosholu Parkland, told Norwood News. Meanwhile, we were informed by the construction crew on the night in question that they had been sent by the City to protect the building.
Photo by Síle Moloney
When contacted by Norwood News to ask if the crew had a permit to work that late at night when people were trying to sleep around 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., we were informed by NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) press secretary Andrew Rudansky that on Oct. 6, DOB inspectors were on scene at 200 East 205th Street when they observed that the façade of the building had fallen into deep disrepair.
They said that among other issues, inspectors observed “cracked and spalling bricks at the building’s parapet at the roof level, missing bricks underneath the coping stone at the parapet, and a bulging condition at a fourth floor window sill.”
The visit may have been prompted by the recent second partial building collapse in the Mott Haven section of the borough on Oct. 1 as reported, forcing the displacement of several residents but fortunately no injuries.
Photo by Síle Moloney
As reported, prior to that latest incident, there had also been a partial building collapse at 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx on Dec. 11, 2023, which fortunately and miraculously resulted in no injures either. It had prompted a change in the law instigated by City Council Member Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14) who represents some or all of Morris Heights. That incident had forced over 150 tenants to lose their homes.
In the interest of public safety, at 200 East 205th Street, DOB officials said they issued an Emergency Work Order to the property owner for them to immediately retain the services of a sidewalk shed contractor, and install a sidewalk shed around the building as soon as possible.
Photo by Síle Moloney
They said the sidewalk shed was necessary to protect the public from the potential hazard of falling bricks and that DOB inspectors were back on scene earlier on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and found that the property owner was complying with DOB orders and the sidewalk shed was being installed.
They went on to say that when DOB issues an Emergency Work Order, the property owner is allowed to perform the necessary work to install the pedestrian protection measures first, and then obtain the permits after the sidewalk shed is already in place.
Source: NYC Department of Buildings
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.