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Video: Retaining Wall
Collapses On West Side

Building Evacuated After West Side Wall Collapse

POSTED: 8:35 pm EDT July 25, 2007

UPDATED: 10:23 am EDT July 26, 2007

NEW YORK -- A
construction site where a retaining wall collapsed, forcing hundreds of
residents to evacuate a nearby building, was already a point of contention
in the neighborhood before the wall fell, a city official said.

Latest Video

Local residents have complained about noise and work at odd hours
at the planned commercial and residential project on Manhattan's Upper
West Side, Borough President Scott Stringer said.

Stringer vowed to ask "a whole lot of questions" Thursday of those
responsible for the construction project. Meanwhile, residents of the
evacuated apartment building waited early Thursday to learn when they
would be allowed to go back home.

No injuries were reported from the wall's collapse Wednesday night,
and the apartment building, at 784 Columbus Ave., showed "no signs of
distress," the city Department of Buildings said in a statement.

Preliminary reports indicated that blasting work at the
construction site earlier Wednesday, may have caused the collapse,
although authorities were still investigating, the Buildings Department
said.

Residents said they had major doubts about the safety of the work
being performed.

"When they were blasting and I saw where they were blasting this
afternoon, I thought, 'This is too close,"' Bridget Polk said.

The retaining wall had been installed to protect 784 Columbus Ave.,
according to the Buildings Department. The wall's fall exposed part of the
apartment building's foundation, the agency said.

The Buildings Department halted work at the construction site,
except for work required to bolster the wall. Heavy construction equipment
was being used to dig up earth and put it at the bottom of the wall.

The Buildings Department said foundation contractor Mayrich
Construction Corp. was doing the work to stabilize the wall. Calls to
Mayrich's Bronx offices rang unanswered early Thursday.

The company in charge of the construction project is Gotham
Construction, according to Stringer. The company referred calls to a
publicist, who did not immediately respond to a telephone message early
Thursday.

None of the residents of the 288 apartments at 784 Columbus Ave.
had been allowed to return home early Thursday, said city Office of
Emergency Management spokesman Andrew Troisi. It wasn't clear when they
would be allowed back in the building.

The Buildings Department said it expected to order 16 apartments to
remain evacuated until they were safe to re-enter.

Many residents were taken first to a nearby public school and then
to a local health center, apparently because it could provide air
conditioning. The American Red Cross was working to help them, Troisi
said.

Stringer said he had requested the order to stop work immediately
at the construction site, which has sparked tension between the developer
and adjacent residents.

"This has been a very contentious construction project, and it's
culminated in the partial collapse," Stringer said. "We have tried to
intervene unsuccessfully."

The construction site runs along the west side of Columbus Avenue
from West 97th Street, where the evacuated 16-floor apartment building is
located, to West 100th Street, community activist Joan Paylo said.

The project includes a 30-story tower and a commercial space
stretching from West 97th Street to West 100th Street and from Columbus
Avenue to Amsterdam Avenue, said Brian Cook, senior planner in Stringer's
office.

The evacuated building is part of Park West Village, built in the
1950s and '60s. It includes residential buildings, park space, schools and
churches. Many residents are elderly and have health problems, Cook said.

The buildings department said the owner of the construction site,
who wasn't identified, would be cited with violations.

Chopper 4 shot video of the scene, showing fire trucks lining the
nearby streets. A backhoe inside the construction site was digging up
earth and placing it at the base of the collapsed wall.

There were no reports of injuries.

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© 2007 by WNBC.com The Associated Press
contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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