Bronx high-rise partially collapses after boiler room explosion. Video shows entire side of 20-story building gone. Clutch Fire

An explosion rocked a New York City Housing Authority building Wednesday morning in the Bronx, causing an entire corner of the high-rise to collapse. 

Videos show a gaping hole in the side of the 20-story building and extensive damage all along Alexander Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the borough. Amazingly, no injuries were reported. 

Mayor Eric Adams visited the scene and joined officials for an update on what may have caused the blast. Initial reports point to an explosion in the boiler room, which sent shockwaves up the chimney, causing the collapse.

“October 1st is when the city turns on the heat, so there was an individual downstairs that was turning on the system, and – this is an investigative theory – that the pilot, before it was lit, caused this incident to happen,” Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry said.

“We received reports of an incident involving the chimney to the boiler room here at NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses. This resulted in a partial building collapse,” the mayor announced. “We are extremely fortunate, at this time, we have no loss of life or no injuries.”

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment, and we avoided a major disaster here,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson added. “Although there is a lot of cleanup, I’m so grateful that no one lost their life, no one is in the hospital, and that is important to be acknowledged.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on social media that she was briefed on the situation and “relieved that no one was injured and grateful to our first responders.”

Witness says “it fell down just like that”

The explosion was reported around 8:10 a.m. Wednesday at 205 Alexander Ave., a residential high-rise in the Mitchel Houses.

One witness said she saw the smoke after dropping her kids off at school and called 911. 

“The whole building just — you heard a loud boom, and the thing just exploded, and it fell down just like that,” she said.

“As we was going up the stairs, we just heard a boom. It sounded like a bomb,” resident Angel Peay said. “Once it happened, I kind of, like, tripped. She tripped, too. And then we just ran out the building. I’m like, I can’t believe this.”

“It was a big explosion. It was scary. It sounded like something blew up,” another person said.

“I said, oh my god, the world is ending, and I started jumping because I have a panic attack,” one woman said.

The blast sent bricks, air conditioning units and other debris raining down onto nearby buildings and the sidewalk below. Water also appeared to be bubbling up from the ground, possibly from a damaged pipe.  

“Somebody in the building next to me, they said that their window even fell, and it’s on the 16th floor,” said another witness who was inside with her son.

Firefighters could be seen digging through the rubble and using drones and dogs to make sure no one was trapped underneath.   

“Luckily, as the mayor said, no one was injured. We ran our dogs over this pile of bricks that is behind us, which is the structure that collapsed — it is a ventilation shaft connected to the boiler, which collapsed. We believe that’s where the explosion occurred,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said.

Evacuations and inspections underway at Mitchel Houses

According to the most recent NYCHA data, the housing complex has approximately 3,500 residents in 1,730 units across 10 residential buildings. It was completed in 1966 and encompasses two city blocks from East 135th to 137th streets.   

Officials say 38 apartments on the F and G lines have been evacuated out of an abundance of caution. NYCHA Human Services is helping 140 residents relocate.

Adams said other residents are being allowed back inside, but the gas has been shut off for the entire complex and inspections are ongoing.

“Most importantly for all of us elected officials and community leaders here, we want to ensure that the structural integrity of this building here at Mitchel is maintained. There is a lot of concern, a lot of anxiety from the residents that live here at Mitchel about what happens in the long term,” said Gibson. “So over the next several hours, as inspectors are in the building, we will do everything possible to make sure that we minimize the disruption and the anxiety of the residents and the families here in this working class community.”    

Gibson pointed out the images were similar to a December 2023 collapse in the Bronx, when several tenants were displaced but incredibly no one was injured. 

The FDNY, Department of Buildings, NYCHA, Con Edison and several other agencies all responded to the scene Wednesday, and the Red Cross set up a support center for residents inside the Mitchel Community Center at 210 Alexander Ave. 

“Number one, the safety of the residents is of paramount importance. That’s the number one concern. We have building inspectors inspecting the foundation of the building and inspecting all of the apartments in the affected areas to make sure that the building is structurally sound for people that live on those wings,” Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said.  

Iscol said anyone experiencing issues can call 311 or call NYCHA at 718-707-7771.

“Some demolition is going to take place today to remove the remnants of that chimney to get into the basement, and then to restore services — heat, hot water and cooking gas — to the campus,” he added. 

Meanwhile, several nearby streets remain closed, and drivers are facing heavy delays around the area.

Building had violations for unsafe facades

CBS News New York found that, according to city records, 205 Alexander Ave. has two active violations from the DOB dating back to 2020 for unsafe facades. The most recent is from February 2024.

Records also show five other NYCHA-controlled buildings on the same block were hit with similar violations in February 2020:

• 188 Lincoln Ave.
• 175 Alexander Ave.
• 300 East 138th St.
• 303 East 135th St.
• 215 Alexander Ave.

As cleanup continues and Wednesday’s collapse remains under investigation, the anxiety of how much worse this could have been remains on residents’ minds as well.

“I’m very scared. I want to know what’s going to happen with the rest of these buildings because I hope it’s not, you know, the same condition,” one resident said.

Resident Destiny Copeland, who has a 3-month-old son, said even though officials say her apartment on the 16th floor is safe, she can’t bring herself to stay there.

“It’s scary and it’s a little traumatizing. You never know what may happen,” she said.

Residents say they have many building issues and want them fixed.

“We got water problems. We got mold problems. We have leaks,” Mitchel Houses Tenant Association President Marsha Williams said. “Y’all need to come and fix everything, not just this one thing.”

Naveen Dhaliwal and

Natalie Duddridge

contributed to this report.