Walter Blum

Description

A building collapsed and injured 11 people, including 1 day laborer, and forced more than 100 people from nearby buildings to evacaute, and disrupted subway service. The owners were building a restaurant on the ground floor when the southeastern wall of the building collapsed. Walter Blum, a licensed architect, was the architect for the project and certified that no structural changes were being made in paperwork that he had sent to the Department of Buildings. In trying to create a better view from the restaurant, the Blums' planned to remove brickwork from archways and make other structural changes to the building. Without proper city permits, the Blums' began renovations in April 2000. After neighbors complained, a building inspector issued a stop work order on May 3 and an unpaid $2,500 fine. The renovations continued, and just before the collapse, workers were removing and replacing bricks through the distressed southeastern wall. When the wall collapsed, the second and third floors of the building collapsed onto the first floor.

Prosecutors

District Attorney Robert Morgenthau