At around 8:10 a.m. on Oct. 1, New York City firefighters received reports of a gas explosion from the 20-story building.Show Caption
NEW YORK − A chimney spanning the entire 20 floors of a South Bronx public housing building collapsed down to the boiler room on Oct. 1, leaving a gaping expanse of exposed and broken brick all the way down the corner of the high rise.The explosion at about 8:10 a.m. is believed to have come from the vast ventilation shaft at the New York City Housing Authority building on Alexander Avenue, officials said. The explosion sent debris down to the street below, and remnants of the collapsed shaft are set to be demolished.Despite the chaos, nobody was injured or killed, authorities said.Local TV news station footage showed the debris falling onto city streets. Residents stood outside of the public Mitchel Houses complex, chattering about what they heard or saw as streets and sidewalks remained closed later in the morning.Early reports indicate the explosion came from a chimney within the Mitchel Houses building, according to a statement from the NYCHA. Teams are investigating the extent of the damage, which has been reported as "exterior damage to the chimney," NYCHA said."We are extremely fortunate at this time we have no loss of life or no injuries," Mayor Eric Adams said.Residents say issues with public housing buildings have been ignoredAs officials gave updates during a news conference in front of the building late the morning of Oct. 1, a few residents called out to city officials.“Now y’all come over here, right?” said Reynaldo Lopez, 43, standing a few feet away. A resident of a nearby Mitchel Houses building for more than eight years, Lopez said neither building management nor city inspectors respond to everyday issues of holes in buildings, hallway lights being out, or a recent smell of gas for days.Carmen Lucíano, 64, a 28-year resident of the Mitchel Houses, has also smelled gas and asked for her kitchen stove to be replaced. She heard the explosion while visiting the Saint Jerome’s Roman Catholic Church in the morning and saw debris falling to the ground.She has also had black mold in her apartment, she said in Spanish.“No hacen nada,” they don’t do anything, she said. “Cobran la renta,” they just collect the rent.Lopez pointed to a longstanding New York City issue: scaffolding. He recalled the scaffolding in front of the building that partially collapsed since he’s lived in the Mitchel Houses.“At the end of the day, you’re not fixing the building,” he said, facing city officials. “Now they’re gonna wrap the whole building up with scaffold. How long is that scaffold going to be there?”Demolition to begin removing debrisSome residents in wings near the chimney were evacuated and crews are working to ensure the building remains structurally sound for residents, officials said.All gas to the building has been shut off, Adams said. Some demolition will begin on Oct. 1 to remove the remnants of the collapsed chimney, access the basement and boiler room and to restore services to the building such as heat, hot water and cooking gas, Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol said.Meanwhile, some residents were expressing anxiety about the next steps to determine safety and minimize disruption to their lives, said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson."This is something that has happened before," Gibson said, referencing a 2023 collapse in the Bronx. "I’m so grateful that no one lost their life. No one is in the hospital."Investigators working to determine cause of collapseOfficials said in a news conference later in the morning that it was a ventilation shaft that collapsed at the building in the Mott Haven neighborhood."We believe that's where the explosion occurred," New York Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said, adding that investigators will work to determine the exact cause.Adams noted that Oct. 1 is the date the housing authority turns on boilers and switches over to heating systems for the season. According to NYCHA Chief Operating Officer Eva Trimble, the boiler systems in all public housing complexes are tested before they are turned on for the cold season.City emergency management officials said people should use alternate routes as they expect traffic delays and emergency personnel near the area.The city Department of Buildings said on X that inspectors were part of the investigation at NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses.Previous NYC building collapses have been disastrousThe Oct. 1 collapse comes after previous building collapses in recent years have displaced residents and caused injuries and at least one death.In April 2023, a Manhattan parking garage pancaked in on itself, sending cars tumbling over each other as concrete floors fell down to the cellar level. One person was killed and several were injured; all were employees of the parking garage. Investigators determined earlier this year in a report that the collapse was caused by unauthorized structural modifications made by employees.In December of the same year, another Bronx apartment building partially collapsed, displacing over 140 residents but miraculously leaving just two with minor injuries. Previous inspections on that building had found unsafe conditions.(This story was updated to add new information)
