Nearly a year after the Bronx building collapse in December 2023, city regulators are addressing construction faults that led to the incident. The Department of Buildings determined that the contractor, Arsh Landmark General Construction, should have caught the engineer's mistake of labeling a load-bearing column as decorative, as CBS News reported.
The collapse of the building on West Burnside Avenue and Phelan Place in the Bronx sent shockwaves through the Morris Heights community. While no one was killed, the incident could have been far worse. Witnesses, including Donovan Boyd and Rachel Clark, called for accountability, with Clark noting that responsibility for the collapse stretches from top officials to the workers on the ground, as reported by Spectrum News.
Arsh Landmark General Construction received two violations, with fines potentially reaching $50,000, and its registration expired, requiring reapplication to work in the city. Additionally, the engineer involved was suspended, with the city halting the engineer's license for two years, preventing him from inspecting buildings during that time.
In response to the incident, the New York City Council has passed a law to improve the Department of Buildings' inspection process, along with a $4.7 million fund for a new task force. DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo emphasized shifting from a reactive to a proactive approach in addressing faulty construction practices, as reported by CBS News. Efforts to contact the contractor, engineer, and property owner for comment have so far been unsuccessful.
