Things are slowly getting back to normal for subway riders at Clark Street Station in Brooklyn Heights, after an awning came crashing down in front of the entrance over the weekend.
Dramatic video captured the moment the massive awning and sign attached to the historic Hotel St. George collapsed Sunday afternoon. The entrance had been closed off for days while city officials assessed the damage and safety risks.
“With these buildings, they are kind of old, so I guess stuff like this could happen,” said Shalom Kbadeh, who lives next door. “But I just never thought it would. Especially, because I see this sign every day when I come home.”
Parts of the subway entrance remain boarded up, and scaffolding has gone up around the building. The city’s Department of Buildings says it’s still investigating—and that its initial inspection found “the steel beams had completely corroded through at several locations.”
The damage wasn’t a surprise to some commuters.
“You can see on the awning that fell, the letters have been falling off,” said Eric Elizalde-Knapp. “The building is clearly not taken care of.”
Elizalde-Knapp says he uses the station almost daily to grab coffee from a local shop called Drip, before hopping on the train.
Despite the scare, he’s relieved the station is open again.
“Yeah! I’m happy and I’m gonna be taking the train in a little bit," he says.
The Department of Buildings says enforcement actions are pending the outcome of its investigation.
News 12 has reached out to Hotel St. George for comment, but it wasn't available for comment.