City inspects unsafe Mt. Airy apartment after CBS News Philadelphia investigation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A residence on Crittenden Street in Northwest Philadelphia has been deemed an “unsafe structure” by the city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections. Now CBS News Philadelphia is asking whether it’s safe for residents to stay there.

Jamie Lawyer said it all started after the April earthquake when she noticed a large crack along the baseboard of her apartment and on the living room wall.

“I want to stay here, but I am convinced that it is unsafe,” the lawyer said. She has lived there since 2018 and loves the apartment at 6325 Crittenden Street in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy neighborhood.

Instead of going to her property manager, she said she notified the city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections (L&I) on April 8 but never received a response. Then she caught the attention of a City Council member, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, and on May 1, the lawyer said, she came home from work and saw a large orange sign on the building’s front door.

L&I’s notice reads an “Unsafe Structure Notice of Violation Warning,” ordering that the property be repaired or demolished within 30 days.

“I’m a single mother, I work and only sleep a few hours because I can’t sleep because our home is unsafe,” Lawyer said.

CBS News Philadelphia on Wednesday asked two outside structural engineers — Mark Johannessen, owner of Viking Engineers, and Michael Leonardo of Structural Engineering Design & Construction — to look at the property. They described an even worse situation, noting that there was no support and the stone wall rotated about a foot.

They were so concerned that they told CBS News Philadelphia they contacted L&I immediately.

“There is a breach and we believe it needs to be escalated. That’s why we wrote a letter saying it was dangerous,” Johannessen said.

Johannessen believes the situation has likely worsened since city inspectors were there on May 1.

“I think the wall probably escalated this week. It does not take long. And when something fails, the only result is that it falls,” he said.

“I think there’s a good chance that the wall will fail, and because it’s a load-bearing wall, the whole building can collapse,” Leonardo said.

The property managers told CBS News Philadelphia in a message: “First and foremost, we want to assure you and the public that the safety and well-being of our residents is our top priority.” In response to the issues raised, our team at GY Properties actively worked to resolve the situation.”

Managers said their engineering team “conducted thorough inspections both inside and outside the building.”

“While we recognize that there were urgent matters that required attention, it is important to clarify that this is not an impending building collapse,” they said, adding that an evacuation was “not warranted” at this time. They said the “team is working diligently to make necessary repairs and improvements to maintain the integrity and safety of the building.”

On Thursday, an L&I spokesperson confirmed that the department had received the report from engineers sent there by CBS News Philadelphia and would now send city inspectors Friday morning.