Brooklyn Daycare Evacuated After Owner Finds Cracks She Blames On Nearby Construction

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A daycare center on Fourth Avenue was evacuated Tuesday after new cracks were found in the building's foundation that the owner says were caused by construction of an apartment building next door.

Kids cleared out of Yoko's Daycare, on Fourth Avenue near 16th Street, after daycare operator Yoko Mima noticed fresh cracks in the concrete.

She and the building's owner, Ahmed Atia, who lives above the daycare, say their property is being damaged by a large construction project happening next door.

The FDNY responded to the scene, and a Department of Buildings inspector was also at the site when Patch showed up Tuesday afternoon.

Caution tape blocked off the property, but the building was deemed safe to reenter.

Atia says the problems with the lot next door, which is being renovated by Titan Realty and Construction, started last year during demolition. He told Patch that his the demolition knocked a brick out of his house and damaged his chimney.

"It's a matter of time until it collapses," he told Patch.

Mima said she was able to freely open and close the back door to her daycare on Monday night, but she couldn't on Tuesday morning, so she knew the crack was new. That's when she alerted Atia, who got the authorities involved.

A litany of complaints on the DOB's website filed by Atia say Titan is also "encroaching on my property" and that the construction "is shaking the daycare center."

A rendering posted on the outside of the construction site show a future mixed-use apartment tower set to be built there.

The building will include 72 apartment units, retail on the ground floor and a parking garage below ground, according to Titan's website. The project is expected to cost $35 million.

Patch has reached out to Titan and the city's Department of Buildings for comment and more information, and we'll update this story if we hear back.

Images via Marc Torrence, Patch Staff