Dozens of Chinatown tenants were evacuated Thursday from a single-room-occupancy building on the Bowery notorious for its makeshift cubicle dwellings.
Officials said they issued a vacate order for the top floor of the four-story building after firefighters responded to a complaint about living conditions at 81 Bowery.
The action left tenants homeless and concerned — and not for the first time. The building was evacuated in 2008 under similar circumstances and nine months passed before its inhabitants could return.
“The situation is unclear,” an elderly tenant with the last name Wang said Thursday in Chinese. “I don’t know where I’m going to spend the night.”
Firefighters and Buildings Department inspectors found “numerous life hazards” Thursday amid rows of rooms separated by thin partitions — many without ceilings, a Fire Department spokesman said.
“There were about 40 separate rooms with 40 people,” said the spokesman, citing “possible tampering with gas and pipes” and blocked exits and sprinklers.
