Building Collapse In Lower Manhattan

MYFOXNY/ AP - Part of a five-story building came crashing down in Lower Manhattan on Thursday morning before the height of the commuter rush. No one was hurt. The building was under construction at the time of the collapse. It had been cited for several building code violations this week.

Watch the video, left, for a report by Fox 5's Linda Schmidt in TriBeCa.

Inspectors with the Buildings Department say the owners of the building at 71 Reade Street had recently been cited for loose bricks.

According to the Associated Press, city records show citations for cracks throughout its north and west side.

On Tuesday, the city cited the building for being vacant, open and ungaurded after a caller ocmplained the building was abandoned.

On April 10, the city cited the property for having unrepaired cracks on its parapet and window sills.

The front half of the building was sheared off in the collapse and interior floors were visibile from the street. Mounds of brick were on the ground and pieces of wood were hanging from wat remained of the structure. A car on the street was covered in rubble.

An e-mail message was sent to subscribers of Notify NYC, the emergency-alert system for Lower Manhattan.

Kody Tokar, who owns an elevator company across the street, arrived about 45 minutes after the collapse.

He said the homeless man was "always sleeping there," under scaffolding in front of the building.

Tokar said he saw bricks dropping off the building on Wednesday, and also noticed some cracks.
He and others who work in the neighborhood had joked in the past that they didn't want to park there.
"The building looked like it was going to fall for a while," Tokar said.

He said the building had been empty for several years. He said something was being built next door, and there was excavation in that lot.  But Lisa Schiller, a 20-year resident of the neighborhood, said she was surprised that the collapse occurred there.  "We're a little freaked out about it," Schiller said when she came out for her morning walk and saw the commotion.