FINANCIAL DISTRICT — A Fulton Street building that suffered two massive back-to-back fires last week has been condemned and ordered torn down immediately by the Department of Buildings, the agency confirmed.
140 Fulton St., a five-story building that housed Caruso Pizza and Pasta on the ground floor and had a dentist's office and a massage parlor upstairs along with residential apartments, has already begun to be demolished, after being bombarded by two fires March 17 and 18, a DOB spokeswoman said.
The demolition began over the weekend and is expected to take several weeks to complete, the spokeswoman said.
The building was engulfed in flames on March 17 when a fire swept through its top four floors, causing apartment ceilings and the building’s roof to partially collapse.
The FDNY called on 168 firefighters to take down the blaze, but just a day later, on March 18, another fire broke out in the building.
A spokesman for the FDNY said the both fires have been deemed accidental electrical fires.
According to an emergency memo sent to Community Board 1 from the DOB, the fire “severely damaged the floor systems" on the third, fourth and fifth floors. Following the partial roof collapse, the city agency determined, “the remaining building is at risk of collapse."
Adjacent building 138 Fulton St., which is home to a ground-floor beauty supply store with condos above, will have to remain vacant as its burned-out neighbor is torn down, according to the DOB.
No civilians were harmed in either fire, though four firefighters suffered minor injuries.
