Out with the old (beams)...

...in with the new

Before new beams can be put in place, the old ones are removed and the masonry cleaned and prepared to receive the beams. Here is what it looks like before the beams are installed:


And here is what it looks like after installation:

New beam installation is the project for the week of August 25—in both buildings and for all floors. One truckload of beams was delivered last week, and another is scheduled for delivery Monday morning.

Debris removal completed in 2526!

At the start of the workweek, the center of activity moved from 2524 to 2526. The goal was to have all the debris that remained on the upper floors of the building pushed down to the first floor and completely out of the building by the end of the week. Despite the interference of several periods of delay-causing rain, that goal was met.

This is what the first floor of 2526 (looking toward the back of the building) looked like on Tuesday morning, August 12.

This is the same space on Friday, August 15. Note also that the second-floor windows are no longer boarded up and the framework has been removed.

Next up: New beams will be installed in the back section of 2526, starting on the first floor and working up.

Cut it out!

One of the unusual projects this past week was getting the old steel staircase removed from 2524. The crew arrived Wednesday afternoon to begin cutting the mass of tangled metal apart. By noon on Thursday, everything had not only been cut apart, but the pieces—five floors worth of stairway—had been carried out.

Staircases...sort of

So why is that the inspectors tend to prefer staying on the first floor? Well...it probably has something to do with the way one gets upstairs—which has nothing to do with stairs! From the first floor to the second floor of 2524, there is a ladder. To get to the third floor and above, one climbs out a second story window onto the fire escape and walks up (using the fire escape).

The only way to get access to an upper floor of 2526 is to climb the ladder from the first floor to the second in 2524, then climb out a non-fire-escaped window and walk across a three-foot-wide roof ledge between the two buildings. From there, one crawls through a window into the second floor of 2526. The fire escape is then used to proceed further "upstairs."

In the foreground of the photo below is the ladder that currently serves as the only access to the second floor of 2524 (and, technically, the only route to the second floor of 2526, as well). In the background, and in the two subsequent photos, you can see the mangled steel-frame staircase that used to run up the five stories of the building.

NYC fire inspectors come to inspect

On Wednesday, July 30, inspectors from the New York City Fire Department stopped by. Inspectors stop by frequently--often unannounced, as was the case with these gentlemen. So far, the site has been visited by inspectors from Housing Preservation and Development, the NYC Department of Transportation, the NYC Department of Buildings, and the engineer from the Community Preservation Corporation.

Often there is some trepidation on the part of the inspectors about actually going inside the buildings. Always the contractor and sub-contractor are relieved to have "Reverend Monroe" on site to answer questions, conduct "tours" (wearing his hardhat, of course), and allow them to keep focusing on their work while other matters are attended to.

One man's trash...

Not everything carried out of the buildings is taken away in either of the two huge dumpsters parked out front. The copper pipes were removed by scavengers years ago, but right now there's still enough "good garbage" for the "junk guys" to make our work site one of their regular stops.

One of their recent prizes was a refrigerator from an apartment on one of the upper floors. There are other items–some large, some small–that will be considered "finds." Among them, a kitchen sink...
...and a commercial dryer, from the laundromat that once operated in the first floor of 2524.