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Ceiling Collapse Injures 2 People at Former Manhattan School: FDNY

By  Camille Bautista and Trevor Kapp | November 2, 2015 8:15am | Updated on November 2, 2015 3:54pm

 Two people were injured Monday morning after a ceiling collapsed at a former school building on West End Avenue and 87th Street, according to FDNY officials.
Two people were injured Monday morning after a ceiling collapsed at a former school building on West End Avenue and 87th Street, according to FDNY officials.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

UPPER WEST SIDE — Two people were injured Monday morning when part of a ceiling collapsed in the basement of a former school building on the Upper West Side, according to officials.

A total of 65 firefighters responded to the landmarked building at 555 West End Ave. around 7:20 a.m., according to an FDNY spokesman.

A worker was transported to St. Luke's Hospital with a leg injury while another person refused medical attention at the scene, according to the Department of Buildings.

No immediate information was available on the victim's condition.

A DOB investigation found that the cellar's ceiling was not properly supported from the time of its initial construction, leading to the partial collapse when workers were performing demolition work, according to a DOB spokesman.

 Plans are in the works to convert the landmarked, former school building into an apartment building.
Plans are in the works to convert the landmarked, former school building into an apartment building.
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Christopher D. Brazee/Landmarks Preservation Commission

The building at the corner of 87th Street and West End Avenue was home to the St. Agnes Boys High School, which was among several schools closed by the Archdiocese of New York in recent years.

Plans are in the works to convert the former school into an apartment building, according to reports.

The most recent permits for the building were issued in October to remove interior partitions and fixtures, according to DOB filings.

The site’s contractor could not be immediately reached for comment.

The DOB issued a partial stop work order for the basement's demolition work Monday, as well as a violation for failure to safeguard the site, according to an agency spokesman.

The incident follows a building collapse Friday that killed a construction worker and injured another in Midtown.