The facade of a wall collapsed at an apartment building in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn sending bricks crashing onto the street. According to a WABC news report, the wall collapse occurred the morning of June 2 in an apartment building in the unit block of South 3rd Street. No injuries were reported as a result of this wall collapse.
Failure to Maintain the Building
The New York City Department of Buildings has issued a “full vacate” order for
the building and has also issued violations to the building owner for failing to maintain the building properly. All tenants who have been affected by the vacate order have been offered emergency relocation assistance.
DOB officials said it has ordered the building’s owner to hire a professional engineer and contractor to install a construction fence around the side of the property and implement emergency shoring work to stabilize the structure. The violations issued to the property owner include failure to maintain the building and failure to maintain the exterior walls. It is indeed a relief to note that no one was injured in this facade collapse.
What Leads to Unstable Facades?
There are a number of factors that can contribute to a property’s decline or deterioration including age, location, building material and installation of that material. Faulty construction can play a part in some cases. But often times, building owners/managers may also be at fault.
In one instance, when a century-old parking lot collapsed at 205 East 38th Street, Department of Buildings investigators determined that the owner failed to properly maintain the brick facade. In this particular case, officials have deemed that the Williamsburg property owner failed to maintain the building as well as exterior structures.
There are also a number of reasons why walls and structures collapse in construction sites. In some cases, these structures may be built with improper materials or with inadequate design or engineering. In other instances, there may have been poor communication between the teams working on the project. The wall may not have been equipped with proper shoring components. Weather and water issues that weren’t properly planned for may also cause the collapse. When facade collapses injure workers or bystanders, the responsible parties can be held financially liable for damages.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
General construction companies, managing agents, building owners, some contractors and sub-contractors have a responsibility to ensure that facades, scaffolds and other structures at a construction site are properly secured so they don’t pose a danger to workers, visitors or pedestrians at or near the worksite. If you have been injured as the result of poorly maintained or poorly secured facades, please understand that you have legal rights.
In such cases, injured bystanders or passersby can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, cost of hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injury, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families of deceased victims may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation for damages such as lost future income, funeral costs, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc. Liable parties may include construction companies, general contractors, sub-contractors, property or building owners/managers, manufacturers of defective products, etc.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a facade or building collapse, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For nearly 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://abc7ny.com/williamsburg-wall-collapse-brooklyn-facade-south-third-street/10732968/