Huge Crack Noticed, Mott Street Building Evacuated

Yesterday afternoon, the city evacuated 273 Mott Street in Little Italty (or Nolita) because a rather large crack emerged in the building's facade. The NY Post reports the crack was three inches wide at the top of the building, "The building, which has 15 residents, and a Japanese/Thai restaurant on its first floor and apartments above, has a 20-foot tall crack in its facade that seems to have grown since last year, a caller complained to the Buildings Department." The Department of Buildings had actually issued a complaint to the building's owner on Tuesday about the crack, but yesterday the FDNY and DOB were on the scene after complaints of the building shaking. On Sunday, a four-story building, which had a substantial crack in its exterior wall, in Brooklyn collapsed, perhaps partly due to the recent rain. And EV Grieve passed by 273 Mott, where one onlooker muttered, "This is what happens when it rains for 30 straight days."

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Thanks for that little red arrow. Otherwise I would have missed the doom-bringing fissure.

the obvious red arrow is a Curbed staple.

Ah, so I see. I wasn't directing it at Gothamist so much as I was being facetious in my pre-coffee AMs.

Global Wombat, I could forgive you almost anything, if only for your avatar.

If the DOB saw a crack that big why do they then wait until the building is already shaking in its death thows to evacuate people?

Yeah...they're rhodes scholars at the DOB

The wall next to that building might as well come down; that thing leans like an old man leaning up against a post.

one of the tags for this article should be that quote at the end, "this is what happens when it rains for 30 straight days"

Kudos to the quick thinker who sought to stop the growth of the crack by way of what amounts to two large staples (picture in NYP article for reference).

There's no way that crack will be a problem now.

I don't think they're staples or straps,
they're sensors the DOB put in to see if it will further expand.

The "staples" are used to determine if a crack is growing. It's made up of parts that have a beginning reference line and it looks kind of like a tape measure. The DOB is suppose to come back and record the difference in some timely manner.

I'm curious as to what makes this a Landmark building.

FYI, I took the photo, not Curbed (Curbed credits dminkin.tumblr).

Well, THERE'S your problem.

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