FDNY officials responded to reports of an elevator that was out of order at Fort Independence Houses, a residential housing complex located at 3340 Bailey Avenue in Van Cortlandt Village on Wednesday evening, Feb. 9.

 

Video by David Greene

 

Fire trucks and firefighters were seen both inside and outside the multiple dwelling building on Wednesday evening, responding to the incident.

 

Norwood News reached out to the FDNY for more information, after FDNY officials were heard on site inside the location telling residents that the issue was potentially linked to a burst pipe.

 

Regarding the cause of the outage, FDNY officials later told Norwood News, “Just a stuck elevator, nothing unusual.” Officials did not clarify what had caused the outage, and there were no accounts of anybody being stuck inside the elevator. Asked if service had since been restored, officials referred us to NYC Department of Buildings for follow-up.

 

Norwood News reported last year on an incident in Westchester Heights, where at least nine people were injured, including several children and one firefighter, after a gas explosion inside a multi-unit residential home shook the building’s foundation and blew out many of the windows and doors. Two of the victims were reported to be in serious condition at the time.

 

NYC Emergency Management remains on scene with the @FDNY and other City agencies at the site of a 2-alarm explosion at 67 Bay 35 Street in Brooklyn. Please avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/jiZhbxpGsv

— NYC Emergency Management (@nycemergencymgt) February 4, 2022

More recently, we reported on an apparent gas explosion in the Longwood neighborhood of the borough in January this year, which resulted in the death of one 77-year-old woman and injuries to others, including the victim’s sister. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

 

On Friday, Feb. 4, NYC Department of Emergency Management issued a warning to locals in Brooklyn following a 2-alarm explosion at 67 35th Street in Brooklyn at a domestic residence. There were no reported injuries.

 

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Feb. 10, a sign was posted at the elevator bank at Fort Independence Houses to say that the elevators were out of order, leaving some residents we spoke to feeling frustrated.

 

Norwood News is following up with the property manager in order to obtain a status update.