By Della Hasselle and Caroline Jumpertz
DNAinfo Staff
Seven residents were evacuated from an unstable row house on Lexington Avenue Thursday after it began to crack from nearby construction, officials said.
The FDNY evacuated 1881 Lexington Avenue, near E 118th Street, East Harlem just after 1pm Thursday. The row house is situated next to a substantial construction site.
Battalion Chief Robert Holzmaier said the FDNY evacuated the building as a precaution, but there were fears the building could collapse completely.
"There are vibrations from the subway underneath and vibrations from the construction site next to it," Holzmaier said. "It is a very old building — pre-1900."
Construction at the neighboring site continued throughout the afternoon.
The fire department was also worried about more serious problems, should the building collapse.
"There is gas in the building, the gas pipes could tear apart during the collapse and cause an explosion, there could be flooding in the basement if the pipes tore, and electrical wires could go down," Holzmaier said.
A tenant of six years, Jose LaSalle, 40, was concerned for his two dogs and a cat that remained inside the building.
"I notified them [the police] that there is some life in there,'' he said. "I don't care about the building but I am worried about my dogs."
A resident of the area since 1952, who gave his name as Lorenzo, said the building was the only one that had not been renovated.
"Other buildings, their owners took care of them; this one is in terrible shape," he said. "It's the only one that hasn't been fixed."
"East Harlem is not what it used to be, it has progressed quite a bit except for that building, they havent done anything to it, it's dilapidated.''
The Department of Buildings is continuing investigations.
