D.O.B. Releases Postmortem on 493 Myrtle Collapse

The Dept. of Buildings issued a report on the factors that led to the collapse of 493 Myrtle Avenue in June, according to The Local. The D.O.B. is pinning the blame on four things: The haphazard way the basement level of a vacant lot east of the site was filled several years ago; the fact that 493 Myrtle’s owner didn’t fix a crack in the building; contractors doing crappy work and weakening the building; and heavy rain making “the dirt in the vacant lot next to 493 much heavier, further increasing the lateral load on the basement wall of 493.” Meanwhile, the DOB is saying that it didn’t do anything wrong by not ordering the evacuation of the building: “Many readers have questioned why the D.O.B. did not order the building evacuated in May after noticing the crack. Ms. Sullivan said that there was no sign of imminent collapse in May and that the inspectors saw no need to evacuate. The Buildings Department, she said, correctly followed its own procedures throughout and did not do anything wrong.”
D.O.B. Says Rain, Work Undermined 493 Myrtle [The Local]
493 Myrtle Demolition Update 6/25 [Brownstoner] GMAP
No Hard Answers Yet on Myrtle Building Collapse [Brownstoner]
Four-Story Building on Myrtle Collapses [Brownstoner]
493 Myrtle, Before the Fall [Brownstoner]