by KERRY BURKE and ETHAN ROUEN
Metro-North riders had a miserable commute home yesterday after a vacant building owned by the publisher of The New York Observer collapsed near the rail line's elevated East Harlem tracks, authorities said.
Service to and from Grand Central was shut down for more than two hours. A Metro-North spokeswoman described rush hour as "chaotic."
The tracks were closed at about 3:15 p.m. because firefighters feared train vibrations could cause further collapse.
They were reopened shortly before 5:30 p.m., but most of Metro-North's 80,000 daily evening riders were socked with delays.
"After a long day of work, I'm stranded," said sheet metal worker Ciro Ruggieri, 50, of New City. "I have no idea how I'm getting home."
No one was hurt when a wall on the building at E. 124th St. and Park Ave. fell to the ground at about 12:20 p.m., sparking a slow collapse that ended three hours later, an FDNY spokesman said. An adjacent building also was damaged and will have to be demolished.
Both vacant buildings are owned by Kushner Co., which lists newspaper publisher and real estate mogul Jared Kushner, 26, as a principal.
"Thank goodness no one was hurt," Kushner said in a statement. "It's quite unfortunate that this tremendous inconvenience was caused."
Initial plans to rehab the building were scrapped when it began falling apart.
"They had planned to demolish the buildings tomorrow," said Howard Rubenstein, Kushner's spokesman. "This is before the collapse."
In January, inspectors from the Department of Buildings said the structure "needs immediate attention" after bricks rained onto the street.
"Every time we go to a disaster, we find violations that are unaddressed," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said.
Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster said engineers are investigating the collapse. "To speculate or pass blame prior to the completion of that investigation would be irresponsible," she said.
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