A 74-year-old woman is dead after a loose portion of her New York brownstone fell on top of her while outside clearing snow.
via People:
On Tuesday, Dale Singer had been clearing snow in front of her apartment building in Brooklyn at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time when bricks suddenly came crashing down onto her.
A rep for the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) told PEOPLE that the incident occurred at a 120-year-old, two-story residential unit located on 6th Avenue. DOB personnel were there to conduct a structural stability inspection after receiving reports that bricks were falling from the building.
When they arrived, inspectors observed that the building’s decorative front façade lintel above the building’s entrance door had collapsed onto the front stairs and stoop.
Singer was taken to an area hospital where she was listed in critical condition and later succumbed to her injuries, police said.
Her son, Wylie Singer, spoke to the New York Daily News following the incident.
“All I know is I heard a sound, the sound of the façade falling,” he told the outlet. “I ran downstairs to see my mother at the bottom of the landing unconscious, dead.”
A neighbor who considered herself a friend of Dale, who declined to be identified, told the Daily News she witnessed firefighters perform CPR on the victim.
“That big piece over the door was what hit her,” she added. “I feel so sorry for her.”
The neighbor continued, “She was a lovely person. I don’t know how the face of the building came down like that.”
According to Dale’s friend, the landlord had been eager to sell the building, but was unable to find a buyer.
A witness also told the Daily News that Dale’s husband quickly arrived at the brownstone, and then took a cab to be with his wife at Maimonides Medical Center.
The two-story apartment unit had not had any complaints since 1991 for an illegal curb cutout and driveway, the publication said, citing city records.
In a statement to PEOPLE, the DOB said forensic engineers conducted a full inspection of the building and issued a Vacate Order for the building. The property owner was also issued a violation for failure to maintain the building, and ordered them to hire a structural engineer and submit an engineer report to DOB on the status of the building.
As an added precaution, city contractors are installing a sidewalk shed around the building in the interest of public safety, and the property owner will cover the expenses for it.
DOB forensic engineers will also be following up with the property owners about repairs at the building.
So sad.
