Building Collapse on Pacific Street?

I knew all those helicopters this morning couldn't be good news: a building collapsed on Pacific Street btwn Carlton and Vanderbilt and displaced hoards of residents. Anyone have the scoop as to why the building caved?

Wrong.
Some bricks came down from a parapet on the abandoned Wards Bakery building, which is in the process of demolition. No construction workers were hurt. The only things displaced were rats and pigeons.
Bring in the Atlantic Yards screamers ...

So what's with all the helicopters? Why is that newsworthy for them to sit above it for so long?

dw438, can I have "some" dollars?:

http://tinyurl.com/2vke54

Just "some"

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5246825

"Officials are worried about the stability of the building and the possibility of additional collapse, so they are evacuating the building next door at 800 Pacific Street. There are unconfirmed reports that perhaps 350 people could be displaced."

People get all riled up over an abandoned building.
Why the choppers?
Atlantic Yards!
Of course!

dw438 wrote: Wrong.
Some bricks came down from a parapet on the abandoned Wards Bakery building, which is in the process of demolition. No construction workers were hurt. The only things displaced were rats and pigeons.
Bring in the Atlantic Yards screamers ...

what about the cars parked below?

cars=blighted

quig wrote: cars=blighted

yeah, but it was only SOME cars

They're blighted now!

new slogan: fcr, we're blighting brooklyn one building at a time

any pictures?

this from NY1

The partial collapse of a building connected to the Atlantic Yards project forced the evacuation of a nearby homeless shelter Thursday morning.

The vacant building at 800 Pacific Street in Prospect Heights is a former bakery, currently owned by Forest City Ratner, the developer of the Atlantic Yards project.

City officials say workers were removing asbestos on the roof of the building when approximately 200 feet of parapet wall fell onto the sidewalk. No one was hurt, but several parked cars were damaged.

An adjacent homeless shelter that houses about 288 people was evacuated. The building’s owner says Ratner has been trying to buy the property.

Shelter residents are now worried about their future, while opponents of the Atlantic Yards project say this is another reason the project should be halted.

"No one is answering questions,” said a resident. “No one really know anything, and we're sitting out here. My baby's cold and we want to go back inside."

"I don't know if anything sinister happened, but obviously some big mistake occurred that nobody took precautions for, and that's the responsibility of the developer and the Empire State Development Corporation," said Daniel Goldstein of the group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.

The FDNY says there are no signs of foul play, and the building's age and or wet weather could have caused the collapse.

Forest City Ratner says it will work with the Red Cross to find shelter for the affected families.

Curbed dot com had this pic up earlier today:

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/04/26/breaking_curbedwire_atlantic_yards_building_partial_collapse.php