The sidewalk around the building at 39-01 Queens Blvd has been closed off with caution tape (Queens Post Photo)
Jan. 20, 2020 By Allie Griffin (Updated)
A Sunnyside building with a gym, a dollar store and a pre-K center was shut down Sunday after a chunk of concrete fell from its facade.
A two-foot-long section of concrete fell from the front of the building at 39-01 Queens Blvd. — which houses New York Sports Club, a Dollar Tree as well as the pre-K program for Sunnyside Community Services. The concrete landed onto the sidewalk, according the the Department of Buildings (DOB).
DOB inspectors were called to the scene early Sunday morning and found additional cracks in other areas of the two-story commercial building and the building has been cordoned off.
No injuries were reported as a result of the crumbling Sunnyside building façade, a DOB spokesperson said.
The inspectors determined its facade to be “imminently perilous to life” and ordered a full evacuation of the premises until the issue is fixed.
Signs posted on the door of 39-01 Queens Blvd by the DOB and NYSC (Queens Post Photo)
New York Sports Club posted a sign stating it is closed until a date to be determined and that members can use nearby locations in the meantime. The entrance to Sunnyside pre-K program with the Queens Boulevard entrance is closed–although Sunnyside Community Services and its center remains open.
The DOB issued a violation to the building’s owner, Rhodes Management, for failure to maintain the building, as well as an order to install a sidewalk shed in front of the building to protect pedestrians.
Once the shed is installed, the department will lift the vacate order.
In the meantime, caution tape has been placed around the sidewalk surrounding the property.
Just last week, a 67-year-old woman was killed by falling debris from a building in Flushing and in December, another woman was killed by a falling piece of building facade in Manhattan.
Rhodes Management didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Vacate Building sign is posted at Sunnyside Up, a pre-K at Sunnyside Community Services
