UPPER EAST SIDE — Parts of East 63rd Street and First Avenue will remain closed through Monday after a crumbling facade sent bricks flying into the street this week, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management and Department of Buildings.
The unstable sections of the brick facade at 340 E. 64th St., near First Avenue, will be demolished starting Friday and will wrap up on Sunday, DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler said in a statement.
The street and sidewalks on East 63rd Street between York and Second avenues, as well as on First Avenue between East 60th and 64th streets, will continue to be blocked off by police, according to the OEM.
Bricks tumbled from the facade of the building onto East 63rd Street Monday, forcing authorities to close the roads to ensure the safety of passersby. No one was injured.
Over the course of the week, engineers and DOB staff have inspected the building's facade and developed a "multi-step plan to secure the site and demolish unsafe brick sections, which must be done before we can reopen the streets and allow displaced residents back into their homes," Chandler said in a statement.
On Thursday night, the contractor renovating the building, with the supervision of DOB staff, injected epoxy behind the facade wall to prevent it from collapsing during demolition, according to Chandler.
"This is complicated, delicate work that will be performed by hand," he said.
First Avenue should be reopened before rush hour on Monday, but Chandler said safety comes first.
