Madison Ave row house collapse
The side wall of a row house at 600 Madison Ave in Albany collapsed Friday afternoon. There had been excavation going on in the empty lot next door when the wall came down. All the tenants were reportedly out of the building when it collapsed. [TU] [WNYT]
The street was closed from Robin to New Scotland.
Friday evening crews were on the scene preparing to demolish the building, which is across the street from Washington Park. The lot next door was vacant because the building that had been there burned down in 2007. Here's Google StreetView of what the row had looked like. The excavation was for construction of a new building. [CBS6]
A bunch of photos are after the jump.
We talked with Historic Albany's Susan Holland for a few minutes at the scene. She said the worry now was keeping the building at 602 Madison safe during demolition of the collapsed building.
Craig Moores and Carrie Turvey, two of the building's residents, talking to a few of the media outlets. Moores said he had been home studying the last two days and felt the building shaking during the work in the adjacent lot.
Find It
Collapsed row house
600 Madison Ave
Albany, NY 12208
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Comments
My jaw is on the ground! The fact that nobody was hurt is a miracle! Note to self: if I ever go back to apartment life, make sure to get renters insurance.
... said Arielle on Aug 27, 2010 at 9:13 PM | link
Pretty much a disaster for the people in the apt. They lost everything... Completely insane.
All pets accounted for, too, so that's good.
... said Casey on Aug 28, 2010 at 7:09 AM | link
I was just across the street in Washington Park...on that boulder on the south side of the lake. I felt a tremor and thought it was either a very large truck passing (except I heard no traffic) or another small earthquake.
I feel sorry for the tenants who lost pretty much all their belongings. I sort of grew up in the apartment rental business and I know it was very rare for our tenants - especially the twenty-somethings - to bother with renters insurance. I hope that's not the case here.
A random side note: After the fire that destroyed the house next to this one, there were two pumpkin vines growing in the empty lot the following summer.
... said Paula on Aug 28, 2010 at 8:29 AM | link
> I sort of grew up in the apartment rental business and I know
> it was very rare for our tenants - especially the twenty-somethings
Wait, can't you enforce renters insurance in the lease? I do (ooops).
... said -S on Aug 28, 2010 at 4:19 PM | link
I'm pretty sure NYS law forbids forcing tenants to buy renters insurance.
It's a sad tale indeed. 598 Madison suffered a devastating fire only 2-3 years ago and the building had to be torn down. The adjacent properties were robbed during the period they were evacuated.
There's been too much sad news on Madison this last year (this, Lark Taven fire). Let's hope things turn around :)
... said daleyplanit on Aug 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM | link
Well, I was very, very young at the time, but I do remember our tenants being STRONGLY urged to purchase insurance, but it was never required.
I stopped to watch some of the demolition work on Saturday. It was surreal site with coats still on hangers, pictures still on walls, a nice staircase...all intact above the rubble.
Some of the demolition workers were picking out whatever items were salvageable from the debris pile and it was pretty poignant to hear a little cheer go up because they'd found a small lamp or a book that could be saved.
... said Paula on Aug 30, 2010 at 6:48 PM | link