Residents Concerned After Brooklyn Home Under Construction Slips Off Foundation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some Brooklyn residents are worried about the stability of homes in their neighborhood after officials say a house under construction slipped off its foundation.
Crews worked overnight and into the morning Thursday to demolish the home on Beacon Court in Gerritsen Beach.
"Last night, they were working on it all night," resident Pat Trivelli told CBS2's Raegan Medgie. "From the minute it fell down, they started to dismantle it, from that moment."
It happened around 2 p.m. Wednesday in what neighbors described as a thunderous collapse.
"A little wind came by and we just heard boom and we ran out of the house and the house came down," said resident Dorothy Parker.
"I heard, like, a wind then I heard a rumbling and the house started to shake," neighbor Edna Weiden told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond. "I thought it was a tornado."
"It looked like it just fell off on its side, like a little Domino," said resident Elita Murphy.
The home, which was damaged in Superstorm Sandy, had been repaired and was being raised as part of the city's Build it Back program. Crews had lowered it into place Tuesday.
"We have hundreds of homes we are lifting throughout the city and we feel confident in the work we are doing and the safety protocols we have in place," said Amy Peterson, director of the mayor's Office of Housing Recovery.
City officials and contractors gathered at the site to figure out exactly what happened and to discuss the next steps.
"We're meeting with homeowner today to start a design for a rebuild," Peterson said.
But some neighbors have serious concerns about the construction.
"It's the way they're putting it together," Parker said. "The neighborhood is under siege with this crazy construction and that is what happened."
"Four years of torture, literally," said Trivelli. "It's just one thing after another. Between the storm itself, which was traumatic, seeing five feet of water in the street was traumatic, to losing everything, fighting with insurance companies, trying to get this done."
Marie Welsh lives two houses away.
"Our streets are falling, sinking, they haven't fixed anything down here. We're the forgotten neighborhood," she said.
Officials say there were no injuries and no other homes in the area are in danger, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
Now, all that remains is plywood covering the foundation of where the home once stood.
The Liro Construction Group -- in charge of building the home that collapsed -- stopped working on all of its Sandy rebuilds on Thursday.
The group spent the day checking the safety procedures at each site to prevent another collapse.
""I can't believe it because I remember when that house, when I was a kid. I was born here," Edna said.
Neighbors said the homeowners were scheduled to move back into the house sometime next month, but it's not clear how long it will now take to rebuild.
Residents said there was a scheduled community meeting Wednesday night and a lot of people who came out were angry. Some are still waiting for construction to be completed on their homes while others are waiting for construction to begin.
The homeowner told CBS2's Medgie that he and his family met with city officials and the Liro group. He did not want to go on camera, but said he and his families are weighing all of their options.
An investigation into how the collapse happened is ongoing.
