Harlem Townhouse Sealed Off After Repeated Collapses, City Says

HARLEM, NY — A picturesque townhouse on a historic Harlem block has had its facade wiped clean after the building began to crumble, triggering fears of a widespread collapse, according to the city.

The four-story building at 726 St. Nicholas Ave. was built in 1890 between West 146th and 147th streets — part of the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District. Its troubles began on Feb. 22, when the Fire Department summoned city inspectors to the building after getting reports of debris falling from the townhouse's facade, a spokesperson from the Department of Buildings told Patch.

There, DOB inspectors found that a 15-by-10-foot section of the limestone facade on the upper floors had collapsed and fallen onto the building's front walkway, according to DOB. (In an odd coincidence, the collapse was captured in Google Maps street view photos, as The Curious Uptowner blog first reported.)

Inspectors also determined that other sections of the facade were loose and in danger of falling, and issued full vacate orders for the four-unit townhouse as well as two neighboring buildings at 724 and 728 St. Nicholas Ave. Tenants affected by the vacate orders were offered relocation help from the American Red Cross, according to the DOB spokesperson.

The city ordered the townhouse owner to install a sidewalk shed in front of the townhouse and issued violations for "extensive illegal unpermitted work" that inspectors discovered had been done inside the building, according to DOB.

Fulfilling the city's fears, on Feb. 27, another chunk of the townhouse facade crumbled onto the sidewalk shed — this time, a 10-by-20-foot section. Finding an "imminent danger" that more of the facade could collapse, DOB issued an emergency order, directing the townhouse owner to hire contractors to remove any loose sections of the facade and install a weatherproof wall to prevent the townhouse interior from being damaged.

But the owners failed to do so, so the city brought in its own contractors to do the work at the owner's expense, a DOB spokesperson said.

Finally, in recent weeks, the city sealed off the building with a temporary wall, resulting in a startling gray slab amid the row of limestone homes. But all is not lost: city workers salvaged some of the facade elements during demolition "for possible future reinstallation," DOB spokesperson Ryan Degan said.

City records show the building at 726 St. Nicholas Ave. is owned by Robert Lewis, who also owns the adjacent townhouse at 724 St. Nicholas. Attempts to reach Lewis by phone and email were unsuccessful.

Have a Harlem news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.