No home for the holidays

Seabreeze Tower resident Erik Boschell gathered his belongings from his first-floor apartment last Friday, his surfboard still leaning against the wall and his pet birds still in their cage.

“What am I going to do with my birds?” he asked no one in particular as several fellow tenants — who described living in the tower as being part of a big family — looked on. Members of the media milled about as Boschell hauled his possessions to his pickup truck.

“Everyone loves the building, and we all get along very well,” he said. “But we’re really being left out in the dark.”

Boschell was one of more than 30 residents who were forced to evacuate the high-rise cooperative building, at 250 Shore Road, on Nov. 19 after they were informed that it might collapse as a result of structural problems.

Boschell said he had arranged to stay at his girlfriend’s grandparents’ home in Brooklyn for the time being, but other tenants were not as fortunate. Some had no place to stay a week before Thanksgiving. “Some of us have places to go,” Boschell said, “but there are people who quite possibly have nowhere to go.”

On Nov. 19, the city condemned the 50-year-old structure and ordered tenants to vacate until the necessary repairs are made. The structural problems were discovered when the cooperative’s engineering firm, Huntington-based Jordan Ruzz Consulting Engineers, was overseeing repairs in apartment 1F, according to a letter sent to city officials and residents.

Engineers discovered that a concrete support column on the southwest corner of the building — which encases a steel beam — had deteriorated significantly over years of exposure to varying weather and saltwater spray.

After engineers installed two heavy steel tube columns to reinforce the damaged column, they discovered that a support column on the southeast corner of the building had deteriorated as well. The firm informed Long Beach Building Commissioner Scott Kemins that the building might collapse, and the city immediately issued a vacate order.

“New York state law requires the city to vacate the premises due to the potential for a partial or complete collapse,” Kemins said. “The column is compromised and there is deteriorating steel inside. The steel that was used then isn’t protected like steel used in buildings today.”

Tenants of the building’s 40 units were given the weekend to remove their belongings, but are now prohibited from entering. Although the city contacted the American Red Cross in the hope of finding places for them to stay, City Manager Charles Theofan said that the agency informed him that it could only assist residents who were displaced as the result of a natural disaster.

Some tenants said they would have to stay with family or friends until the repairs are made — while continuing to keep up with their regular mortgage payments or rent.

“I got my clothes out, and all of my paperwork, but that’s it — I can’t move my furniture because I have nowhere to put it,” said Carlos Yera, who has lived in the building for eight years and said he pays well over $1,000 a month for his mortgage, maintenance and assessment fees.

Yera said that he is temporarily staying with a friend in the West End, but his precarious situation is taking an emotional toll on him, especially during the holidays. “This whole thing has been really bad on me because I lost my wife a little over a year ago, and with this it’s really been overwhelming,” he said. “When I woke up this morning I was trembling. I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.”

Last Saturday, the cooperative’s board held a closed-door emergency meeting with tenants at City Hall, and many tenants said they came away with more questions than answers. They said they were told that temporary repairs could cost around $150,000, and that neither temporary nor permanent repairs would be reimbursed by the building’s insurance company.

As a result, residents said, they would have to pay for all of the repairs. They were told that once the necessary repairs are made, they could move back in three weeks to a month.

Residents criticized the co-op board and building management for not informing them about the problems sooner, and said that they were made aware of the structural issues in a meeting with the board the night before the evacuation. The next day, condemnation notices were posted throughout the building.

“We have no idea about what is actually going to happen,” Boschell said. “They really don’t have an answer.”

At last Saturday’s meeting, Boschell and other tenants said, they were told that details of the cost of repairs and financing would be discussed at another meeting on Nov. 29. Boschell, who has lived in the building for eight years, said he hopes the board reaches out to more than one contractor in order to get a competitive bid if residents are to assume the costs of the repairs.

Co-op board President Judith Bubbers could not be reached for comment. Theofan said that the board has been in talks with banks in the hope of securing a second mortgage to cover the cost of the repairs, and is also trying to work out a payment arrangement with a contractor. He also said that the city would try to expedite permit applications for the repairs. Once the temporary repairs are completed, Theofan said, the condemnation order will be lifted.

“We’re going to — as soon as we get the permit applications for the repairs — review them and issue them as quickly as possible,” he said. “We will be overseeing the work to see that it’s done properly and safely, and assisting in any way. If everything falls into place and they’re able to figure out the financing, I personally think that the actual repairs could be accomplished in a few weeks.”

Tenants said they are hoping they can move back into their homes sooner rather than later, and are looking for answers at the next meeting. “It’s a giant mess, but hopefully we can resolve it in a short period of time,” Boschell said. “I believe we’re all going to do what it takes to get back in there.”

Comments about this story? Arifilato@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.