Tenants: Bushwick building evacuated with no warning as collapse fears grow
The building at 1416 Dekalb Avenue was ordered vacated on March 11.
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Residents of a Bushwick apartment building say they were forced out of their homes with almost no warning after the New York City Department of Buildings issued a notice to vacate the property earlier this month.
The building at 1416 Dekalb Avenue was ordered vacated on March 11. Scaffolding now surrounds the structure, but tenants say they have received little information about the process and no clear guidance on when they will be allowed to retrieve their belongings.
Several residents said they were aware that one side of the building had been deteriorating for years. Videos shared by tenants show collapsing ceilings, crumbling walls and extensive water damage.
According to the Department of Buildings website, inspectors feared the entire structure could collapse.
Tenants said they were initially told only part of the building would be vacated, a section they claim already had many empty apartments because of long-standing repair issues.
Tenants also showed News 12 photos of conflicting notices to vacate posted at the property, including two stating they had until March 25 to leave. Residents said that despite those written notices, they were told on March 11 to leave immediately.
“I was at work and we had very little time, and just no communication on what happens next,” resident Akil George said.
Another resident, Iwona Gardner, says tenants raised issues with HPD and DOB for years and yet no repairs happened, despite the building being listed on HPD’s site as part of the Alternative Enforcement Program, which “also allows HPD to make repairs and replace building systems if necessary.”
With more than $18,000 in civil violations listed as outstanding against the property owner by DOB, Gardner says the city should have made more repairs before conditions forced tenants from their homes.
“You know I voted for this, I voted the city can take properties but I just didn't expect it ends with us in the street, I feel we have been failed,” she said.
In a statement to News 12, DOB said: “Significant portions of the apartment building located at 1416 Dekalb Avenue were found to be structurally unstable, and it is not currently safe to allow anyone inside. To stabilize the building, we have issued orders to the property owner for them to immediately install temporary shoring under the supervision of a professional engineer and start critical repairs.”
The agency said the building was upgraded from a partial to a full vacate order because of a sagging rear of the structure but did not provide a date for when the full vacate took effect or what warning was given to residents.
Residents say they fear the building could be fully demolished before they have a chance to recover their belongings, adding that their Red Cross assistance has now expired.
“We need to know what is next, do we sign new leases, can we have are things, it is like a joke, they are not responding to us,” Gardner said.
DOB says it issued an emergency declaration for the installation of shoring at the rear of the building to prevent collapse, though it remains unclear if that work has begun.
According to DOB, “In order for tenants to retrieve belongings still left inside the building, the building must be first made safe. The property owner’s engineer must develop a plan, and submit it to DOB, detailing how they can safely allow people back into the building on a temporary basis in order to retrieve belongings.”
Residents fear that may never happen, leaving them — and their possessions — in limbo.
