Leak at Bronx building intensifies concern after 2023 collapse: advocates

BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) – Water leaks at a Bronx building that partially collapsed in 2023 have reinvigorated tenants’ concerns about the building’s safety, according to The Legal Aid Society. 

The city’s Department of Buildings on Saturday issued a violation to the property’s landlord after tenants saw rainfall “pouring” through ceiling lights and into the lobby, according to the department and The Legal Aid Society. 

Saturday brought heavy rain across the city, and the building on Billingsley Terrace near Phelan Place purportedly did not fare well. A video shared by The Legal Aid Society shows water dripping into the lobby and pooling on the floor.

The Buildings department also found water damage in an apartment on the sixth floor and a broken glass skylight on the roof, according to a DOB representative. Inspectors found no additional unsafe conditions during Saturday's enforcement, according to the department. 

“We are concerned that today’s rainfall, which is pouring through ceiling lights in the lobby, has compromised the building’s integrity and placed the tenants in harm’s way,” said Jessica Bellinder, a Supervising Attorney with The Legal Aid Society. 

Legal aid filed a lawsuit in February related to the high-profile partial building collapse in December 2023 that displaced over 130 people. Saturday’s storm intensifies safety concerns held since before the collapse, according to The Legal Aid Society. 

“The tenants of 1915 Billingsley Terrace have already suffered enough,” Bellinder said. “We need the landlord, the City, and the FDNY to immediately assess 1915 Billingsley Terrace to determine if it’s safe and structurally sound for residents.”

The building currently has over 200 open violations with the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development and a number of open violations with the Department of Buildings.