No demolition for eyesore Central Warehouse building
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ALBANY, NY Albany city crews continued to monitor the imminent threat Saturday at the Central Warehouse after concrete started falling from a portion of the Montgomery Street building on Friday.
“Crews are right now working on one corner of the building where there’s a large metal stack,” said Mayor Kathy Sheehan. “Then the plan is to move to the removal of the loose concrete where it’s been identified and hopefully get the immediate threat under control and removed so the train travel can resume.”
The falling concrete has forced the Amtrak train services to adjust travels for service near Albany, as train tracks run alongside the building.
MORE: Portions of Central Warehouse eyesore facing ‘imminent’ collapse, suspending rail service
Meanwhile, the skywalk and bike trail areas near the warehouse are still open for public use.
“The skyway itself is not within the fall zone, the issue and the challenge with the rail tracks that run right along the side of the building,” said Sheehan. “We haven’t had any issues with it yet. if people start doing things that aren’t smart and try to access the site, then we may have to rethink that.”
CBS6 asked about a possible demolition of the building, Mayor Sheehan said, “This is a privately-owned building so our emergency powers end where the emergency ends, and it may be incumbent upon the owner to further stabilize it and do additional work that may not necessarily fall under an emergency order.”
The mayor added there’s asbestos inside the building.
CBS6 spoke to some Albany residents who didn’t want to go on camera but said the hazard is concerning.
“I thought they were going to do something with it a few years ago and create some jobs but that hasn’t happened,” said Albany resident Ervin Ashburn. “If it’s not going to happen and it’s a hazard perhaps it should come down. But if the taxes are paid, I don’t know if the city can do anything.”
Sheehan said the city will be billing the building’s owner for the work the city has put into to clean up and secure the area during the state of emergency.
