The recent condemnation of a parking garage in Yonkers has left local car owners scrambling for alternative parking solutions. According to a report by CBS News New York, the garage at 30 Hawthorne Ave. was deemed unsafe and car owners were given until this Friday to vacate the premises. A resident affected by the sudden closure, in their search for safe parking spots, found themselves hard-pressed to come up with a solution on Christmas Eve.
City officials, including inspectors Joe Ferrotta and Pat Losco, have ensured that vehicles can be removed from the facility, while also prohibiting new entries. "I'd rather have the cars out, than have the thing collapse," Losco said, acknowledging the severity of the structure’s condition, as reported by CBS News New York. The garage was condemned after inspectors observed alarming signs of decay such as "exposed rebar, cracking, extensive cracking throughout."
Under New York law, parking garage owners are required to have their properties professionally inspected every three years and file the report with the local municipality. The owner of the condemned garage, MPG, has apparently failed to comply with these regulations, neglecting to submit a required inspection report and initiating repair work without the necessary permits. This lax approach came to light after resident Janique Breland's social media posts, showing falling concrete, prompted the city to take a closer look at the garage’s condition, revealed by a government source to CBS News New York.
As a matter of public safety, the lot has been officially condemned, with pink notices plastered on its entrances since December 21, stating the location as unsafe for human occupancy. Breland, a motorist who has documented the garage's state herself and parked there since 2020, expressed her fear of the garage collapsing, especially with the presence of children during morning hours. "My fear is coming back, parking my car, and that garage falling. And me, suffering from artery disease, getting trapped in there, that's my fear," she recounted in an interview with News 12 Westchester. The building's operator, MPG Manhattan Parking, has been contacted for comments, but has not responded as of yet.
While the future of the condemned structure remains uncertain, and officials have yet to confirm when the parking garage will reopen, what is clear is the immediate disruption this causes for the everyday lives of those reliant on the facility.
