PROSPECT HEIGHTS--Just into our inbox a photo of some significant loss of parts of Ward's Bakery at 800 Pacific Street in the Atlantic Yards footprint. The tipster who sent the image writes about:
A partial collapse not 20 minutes ago...Seems the parapet which was at the top of the building (duh) fell off following the start of demolition work on the building and heavy rains. No less than 11 firetrucks, 50 firemen, 3 FDNY emergency response vehicles and they just set up a cute little whiteboard to figure out their plan of cleanup. Nobody was walking underneath and as the building is slated for demolition it was empty so no injuries. Several cars were damaged.This one hadn't even made it into the Curbed Building Collapse Betting Pool. [Curbed Wire Inbox] UPDATE 11:35AM: Reports of some nearby evacuations as a precaution from 7Online and Develop Don't Destroy wastes no time in asking, "Can the neighborhood look forward to this quality of work from Forest City Ratner for the next 20 - 40 years?"
UPDATE 11:52AM: A tipster on the scene emails, "I'd like to point out Atlantic Yards visible on the left side of the image. Somebody is going to hang for this as it's a major screw up." More images from the scene coming soon.
UPDATE 1:53PM: Our tipster checks back in with the above and below photos, and this note: "They started clearing and the women's shelter next door will have to stay evacuated until they remove the parapets on the remaining 3 sides. All the news people turned out."
UPDATE 2:35PM: The just-turned-one-year-old! Gowanus Lounge has a solid update on community reaction. NoLandGrab is also all over the story.
UPDATE 3:36PM: Ah, there it is—the press release in our inbox from Dan Goldstein and the Develop Don't Destroy crew. Cue Goldstein: "We simply don't believe that the building was unstable, that is until Ratner's contractors went in; in fact, Ratner apparently studied the structural integrity of its holdings in the footprint just a year ago, and concededly found no basis for concern with regard to the Ward Bakery. Had they thought the building was unstable, you have to believe that Ratner would have taken at least the precautionary measure of placing protective sidewalk sheds along the building in order to safeguard the community." The full release is posted in full at the DDDB site.
UPDATE 5:30PM: Blogger Brit in Brooklyn posts a bunch of great photos from the scene, like the one above, to the Curbed Photo Pool. More at Brit in Brooklyn.