Bronx retaining wall falls, causing landslide that crushes building

MOUNT HOPE, the Bronx (PIX11) -- A retaining wall collapse and landslide in the Bronx on Wednesday that were apparently caused by heavy rains overnight left at least four buildings condemned and left their residents out on the street.

Those residents called the scene unbelievable, but they also pointed out that the city had given warning about the retaining wall years ago. The city had also said that the owners of the homes adjacent to the wall are responsible for its upkeep. However, a dispute between those homeowners and the city over that issue had kept the wall from getting repaired.

The landslide collapsed the roof and the back wall of an auto repair business that's behind the row of homes, down a hill. It happened on Wednesday morning, before the business opened.

"Thank God that nobody was in there," said Judy Jimenez, the office manager of the business, Carter Auto Repair. At the location where her building's roof and back wall collapsed, she said, "There was three men … working yesterday on a car."

She said that it was miraculous that the landslide happened at a time when nobody got hurt. At least four cars in the garage, though, were totaled.

The business sits below a row of multi-family homes on Anthony Avenue, which are at least a full story higher up there hill than the roof of the businesses below.

Edwin Hernandez is one of the owners of the homes in the row. He, and about a dozen residents in those homes, were issued a vacate order by the New York City Department of Buildings.

It was the latest move in a three-year process, in which the city has required the homeowners to repair the retaining wall.

"The city has been trying to blame us for the wall," Hernandez said, "and to be honest, the wall, we can't even really get to it."

He said that the homeowners have contested the city's assessment that they pay for the wall's upkeep. Now, though, with a police-enforced order to stay out of their homes until there's a repair and the buildings can be proven to be structurally sound, Hernandez said that he and other owners have no choice but to pay up.

"It's hurtful, man, 'cuz I've been here for 16, 17 years and I never had to go through none of this," he said. "I never knew that I had to be responsible for a wall that I've never even seen."

He said that the wall is about 3 feet beyond his property line.

The Department of Buildings has disputed that since at least November 2020. That's when it issued a partial vacate order to the residents of the homes next to the retaining wall, a department spokesperson said.

The order restricted residents from being in their backyards because "the retaining wall was in a state of disrepair and unsafe to occupy for residents," the Department of Buildings spokesperson said, in part, in a statement.

It went on to say, "this retaining wall is located on private property, and the owners of these properties have a legal responsibility to properly maintain the retaining wall in good condition."

In the past, said the Department of Buildings statement, "The owners of the various properties were ordered to file an engineering report with DOB and obtain construction permits to conduct repairs on the structure. DOB never received applications for repairs of the retaining wall.

Regarding Wednesday's collapse, the statement continued, "Our investigation is ongoing."