Partial Vacate Order Issued for Another Hell’s Kitchen Garage
The garage–located at 721 10th Ave. and welded to the Skyline Hotel–was partially shuttered by the Department of Buildings on November 16, after inspectors found that the first floor and cellar significantly exceeded car capacity limits. Icon Parking, the now-notorious company that operates the garage, was ordered to offload the extra cars.
| 27 Nov 2023 | 04:27
A garage in Hell’s Kitchen was ordered partially vacated on November 16, after the Department of Buildings (DOB) found an excessive amount of cars on both the first floor and cellar level. A vacate order proclaimed–in a phrase that is perhaps familiar to those aware of the recent string of Manhattan garage failures–that the building was “imminently perilous to life.”
721 10th Ave., which is operated by Icon Parking and adjacent to the Skyline Hotel, was deemed in violation of occupancy laws. Specifically, a DOB official named “D Miazga” said in a summons that the first floor was allowed to contain up to 32 cars, while the cellar could hold 115. Instead, 70 cars were found jammed into the first floor, with 162 cars somehow packed into the cellar. The suggested remedy was to “discontinue illegal occupancy.” In other words, get rid of the excess vehicles.
In the summons, Miazga had also noted that the garage had “several structural defects.” Permitted remedial work was apparently underway.
A November 22 visit to the entrance of the garage by Straus News demonstrated that people were inside. It was not clear if customers were actively using the premises. It was possible that workers had begun repairing flaws or removing cars from the overstuffed building.
According to reports, customers were told that they could use a sister Icon facility at 435 W. 57th St. It was also indicated that repairs on the 10th Ave. location could last months.
The 10th Ave. garage isn’t the only one operated by Icon Parking deemed perilous this month. In a series of events that captured the attention of NYC commuters everywhere, a W. 51st St. garage was ordered fully vacated by the DOB on Nov. 2 after significant structural issues were discovered. That Icon garage sits atop a northbound Amtrak tunnel, which meant that service between Penn Station and Albany was snarled for a few days (between Nov. 12 and 16) after additional dangers were unearthed.
DOB inspections ratcheted up inspections citywide after a garage collapsed on Ann St. in Lower Manhattan in April, killing its general manager. The garage was ordered to be demolished. A series of follow-up sweeps discovered a host of garages with profoundly unsafe conditions.