PARK SLOPE — City officials temporarily evacuated nearly a dozen toddlers from a Fourth Avenue day care Tuesday after construction next door split fresh cracks in the building's cellar, according to the property owner.
Workers at the Titan Realty and Construction site next door broke ground last fall for a $35 million condominium project that has since riddled the building with minor damage, imperiling the students at Yoko's Daycare, according to the longtime owner of the building.
"The way they do things is not safe. The construction is shaking the day care and they knocked a brick off the building before," said Ahmed Atia, who has owned 571 Fourth Avenue for the past 29 years. "It's not safe for anyone. We've complained many times."
Titan did not return requests for comment about their 123,000 square foot project at 575 4th Avenue. The Daten Group, which retained Titan to work on the project, also did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The Fire Department temporarily evacuated 11 kids and the day care's staff at 11:07 am Tuesday after Atia reported new cracks in the building's foundation, according to a fire department official.
A pair of Department of Buildings inspectors examined the excavation work shortly after and slapped the construction site with a safety violation and a full stop work order for failing to keep an eye on how the building was impacting the nearby structure, according to city records.
"Full [stop work order] issued for not monitoring adjoining structures for movement," wrote Department of Buildings inspector Rick Chandler on the posted stop work order.
Tenants were allowed back into the Park Slope building Tuesday after it was deemed structurally sound by inspectors, but the Department of Buildings' investigation is ongoing, according to an agency representative.
The property has racked up five construction violations in 2017, three of which remain open, according to DOB records.
But even with the halted construction, the day care's owner is skeptical that her customers will want their kids next door to the construction site, said owner Yoko Mimata.
"We provide really good care but who wants to be here if it isn't safe?" said Mimata. "I'm worried. I'm not Christian and I'm praying to God everyday."
Mimata will have to refund parents a total of $2,000 for sending the tykes home, but she said she plans on asking the developer to foot the bill since it was its shoddy construction that forced them to leave.
"They're being disrespectful and taking advantage and I have to start putting my foot down," said Mimata. "I'm going to see if they'll pay for it. It was because of them we had to leave."
This isn't the first time work at a Titan Reality and Construction site has taken a turn for the worse. In 2016, a worker's leg was crushed during an unsafe excavation at a Bushwick site run by Titan.
