By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — The pair of Chinatown buildings gutted by a massive fire late Sunday night could begin being demolished as early as Wednesday, officials said.
The six-story buildings at 283 and 285-287 Grand St., where the seven-alarm blaze swept through just before midnight on Sunday, killing an elderly resident, were deemed structurally unstable by the Department of Buildings on Tuesday.
The demolition will be performed by a contractor with the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development under DOB orders since the owner has still not been contacted, a Buildings Department spokesperson said.
If the building owner, listed in public records as Fair Only Realty Corp., cannot or will not initiate the demolition proceedings, contractors with HPD are hired to take down the buildings in the interest of public safety, the spokesperson added.
As of Wednesday morning, the FDNY had still not determined the cause of the fire, although the New York Times reported that the blaze broke out in the back of a store on the ground floor of 283 Grand St.
