Corona collapse kills one

Just hours before his wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl in his native Mexico, construction worker Daniel Basilio, 29, was crushed under an avalanche of wet concrete and steel when the top floor of a new four-story building along Roosevelt Avenue collapsed suddenly, killing him and injuring seven other workers.
The disaster at 104-56 Roosevelt Avenue on Saturday, October 7 prompted the Fire Department to order the evacuation of families living in the two adjacent homes which had been struck by debris and were deemed at risk if there was a further cave in.
Javier Calle, 11, was among those neighbors who had to flee. As he stood close to his mother on a neighbor's front steps following the fatal collapse, he said, &#8220We heard crashing and the house shook. I was scared. Then the firemen came and told us to get out of the house. My dad is talking to the Red Cross now so we can stay at a hotel.”
According to John Van Nostrand of the Red Cross who arrived at the scene at 11:30 a.m., nearly one hour after the incident, 19 people in four families had to be relocated. One family was still displaced as of Tuesday, October 10.
MTA officials shut down the No. 7 subway line completely for over five hours until they and engineers from the Department of Buildings (DOB) did seismographic tests to determine if limited service would cause a further collapse.
The cause of the collapse has not been determined, but a construction worker removing debris, who requested anonymity, confided that a mound of concrete &#8220two-and-a-half feet thick” was found &#8220in the middle of the roof” and that it seemed apparent that the wet concrete was allowed to pile up in one spot instead of being raked out.
According to DOB Queens Borough Commissioner Derek Lee, who examined the interior of the building, &#8220Violations were issued, including one for no permit. The only time we permit construction work on weekends is in the interests of public safety.”
Lee added that there would be a full investigation and that the Department of Housing Preservation would determine if the building should be demolished.
At the scene, onlookers were dismayed. Enrique Lugo, a member of the Community Board 4 Public Safety Committee complained, &#8220The problem is over-building, and how they are working. They take short-cuts.”
He cited a recent wall collapse near the intersection of Junction Boulevard and Alstyne Street, not far away. He also suggested that Community Boards should be informed of building violations &#8220to avoid a greater disaster” - although there were no prior violations issued for the new construction.
Jennifer Givner, a spokesperson for the DOB, confirmed, however, that following the collapse, three summonses were issued to the contracting company, Galindo & Ferreira Corp., for working without a permit, failure to have building plans on site and not protecting the public.
Givner also confirmed that the plans for the building, created by professional engineer Barry Bank, who has offices in Kew Gardens, had been reviewed by the Department's plan examiners, and were met with objections. She went on to say that Bank certified that the plans had been corrected, but that the DOB did not review these revisions.