Following the party wall collapse and subsequent evacuation of 329 and 331 MacDonough Street in Bed Stuy early Wednesday morning, a hearing was held on Friday afternoon to decide whether both brownstones needed to be demolished as the Department of Buildings had initially indicated. The judge ended up ruling that the DOB review the situation over the weekend with outside engineers to determine whether destroying the historic structures was in fact the only course of action. A source on the block we heard from told us that four out of the five engineers on site Saturday came out in favor of preserving the buildings, a view which will surely be presented to the judge at today’s follow-up hearing but will likely be resisted by DOB. “It’s seriously @$%^ed up!” wrote one reader who lives down the street. “This will be like the block losing its two front teeth.” The hearing will be held at 360 Adams Street, Room 438 at 2:30 pm; tenants (two of whom are shown above with some of the belongings DOB employees retrieved for them on Saturday) and block members are encouraging as many people to turn out as possible. If you would like more information about the situation, please contact Suzette Hunte at 917.721.7258 or Krystal Codett at 347.489.6551.
Wall Collapse, Vacate Order, Maybe Demo on MacDonough [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Renovation Leaves 8 Residents Homeless [NY Daily News]
City Rushing Surprise Demolition [Brooklyn Eagle]