It has been almost a year since part of a building in the Bronx collapsed.

Last December, residential units on a corner of the 1915 Billingsley Terrace building in Morris Park fell to the ground.

What You Need To Know

  • The Department of Buildings says the construction firm of Arsch Landmark General Construction Corporation was doing work on the building and removed a structure designed to support significant weight and the foundations of the floors

  • It’s been almost a year since part of 1915 Billingsley Terrace collapsed in Morris Heights, the Bronx

  • Though no one was injured, more than 100 residents were displaced

A report released Monday by the Department of Buildings as a part of a multi-agency investigation details what went wrong.

The department says the construction firm of Arsch Landmark General Construction Corporation was doing work on the building and removed a structure designed to support significant weight and the foundations of the floors.

Though no one was injured, more than 100 residents were displaced.

Donovan Boyd lives near the building and was walking by last year when a portion of the building fall.

“I had seen helicopters around a lot of smoke so I started walking faster just to see what was going on, and then I see the second part of the building just collapse and fall straight to the ground,” Boyd said.

The report found contractors failed to install temporary structural shoring prior to the removal of the load-bearing structural pier.

The city issued two violations to the construction company for failing to safeguard the construction site and to notify the Department of Buildings of the damage to the building prior to the collapse.

People in the neighborhood told NY1 they want to see whoever was at fault held accountable.

“They have to be more responsible on how they are doing their job. They have to be more aware of what’s going on,” Boyd said.

“The person who hired the construction company should be held responsible,” Rachel Clark, a Bronx resident, said. “It goes all the way down to the bottom. Whoever is in charge at the top is responsible, but each person down the ladder is also held responsible.”

According to the report, the contractor could face a maximum potential penalty of $50,000.

The engineer hired to draw up the repair plans had a previous two-year suspension, preventing him from working in New York City.

NY1 reached out to Arsch Landmark General Construction Corporation and has not heard back yet.

A new law passed by the City Council and an investment of $4.7 million from the mayor’s office aims to staff a new unit to prevent building collapses in the future.