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A building being renovated in central Harlem partially collapsed yesterday afternoon, killing one construction worker, injuring two others and filling a residential street with dust and debris, officials said.
Witnesses and construction workers at the scene of the collapse at 280 W. 113th St. said the dead man, Richard Joseph, 33, of Brooklyn, was an immigrant from Africa who had been sending part of his earnings to his family abroad.
"I saw debris falling, I saw the whole thing was dust and dirt," said a security guard on 112th Street who gave her name only as L. Smith.
Smith said she heard voices crying, "Help, help," from the building and noticed that a beam was on top of Joseph. The two injured workers were taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where they were in stable condition, said police.
Police and fire officials said the partial collapse occurred around 12:34 pm. when the top floor of the five-story residential building fell onto the lower floors. The building had been undergoing internal renovation, said officials at the city Department of Buildings.
Work was suspended at the site and city engineers were conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings, adding that the agency intends to issue violations related to the incident.
Nesta Felix, Joseph's cousin, said he had a child and that his mother was living in the United States.
"It hasn't hit her yet," said Felix of her aunt. She didn't disclose Joseph's country of origin.
"It was a shame to happen the day after Christmas," said Smith, who recalled Joseph eating lunch outside the building in warmer weather.
"We are all in pain," said grieving co-worker Jeffrey Ramos, 26, of the Bronx.
Officials with the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development said the formerly city-owned structure had been sold in 2003 to the Neighborhood Partnership Housing Development Fund Corporation, a non-profit holding company. It is an affiliate of the Enterprise Foundation, which serves as a holding company during renovation.
Global Partners, a local neighborhood-based entrepreneur, was picked to manage the property and was overseeing the renovation, said HPD officials. Global Partners was to assume ownership once renovation work was completed, said the HPD.
Construction work at the building was being handled by Transcorp Construction Corp of Elmhurst, according to the Department of Buildings. A woman answering the telephone at Transcorp said that none of the company's principals were available for comment.
Officials at the Neighborhood Partnership and Global Partners could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings said yesterday that a stop work order had been issued in August for the renovation after the city Environmental Control Board issued citations for unsafe scaffolding. Work continued at the site despite a work permit that had expired in 2004, said the spokeswoman, adding that the permit was finally renewed in October.
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