No one hurt as Paterson health office facade crumbles to the sidewalk

PATERSON – Large chunks of concrete blocks from the second story of Paterson’s health division building collapsed onto the sidewalk on Broadway on Wednesday morning, but tragedy was averted because no one was walking along the pavement.

The same building has been shut down on nine consecutive business days because of broken air conditioning.

City government sources said they are looking into the possibility that a leaky roof caused the façade collapse, which happened just before 9:30 a.m.

So far, there’s no evidence that the crumbling facade was connected to any efforts to fix the air conditioning, the city sources said. The collapse took place after the health department once again closed on Wednesday because of excessive temperatures inside, officials said.

Mayor Andre Sayegh said he was assessing the situation. City Council President Alex Mendez said Paterson needs to address the poor conditions of its various public buildings with a plan for possible new facilities.

“Who knows how much it’s going to cost to fix the structure of this building?” Mendez said of the health office at 176 Broadway.