30 Feet of Stonework Plummets onto Reade Street from Broadway Building

A large chunk of fallen facade from 291 Broadway can be seen in the foreground as Department of Buildings personnel examine other pieces on Reade Street. Photo: Milo Hess

Thirty feet of decorative stonework crashed onto the Reade Street side of 291 Broadway Monday morning. No one was reported injured. The debris broke loose from the building’s 15th and 16th floors, a Department of Buildings spokesman said in an email.

Fragments of stone from the 19-story building, which is undergoing facade repairs, lay in the street’s traffic and bike lanes.

As it fell the stone damaged the 5th-floor facade as well as the scaffold and sidewalk shed, the spokesman said.

On March 11, DOB inspectors cited the contractor, Nova Construction, for failure to fully secure the building’s netting, meant to prevent “hazardous construction debris, or material from hitting someone,” the DOB violation reads. The violation, which comes with a $2,500 fine, remains open, according to DOB records.

The building is located across the street from 280 Broadway, which houses the Department of Buildings.