Deadly Facade Collapse Could Lead to Prison

As the city’s co-op and condo boards embark on legally mandated repairs to their buildings’ facades, the importance of that work was highlighted by criminal charges in the death of a two-year-old girl who was killed by falling masonry last year.

Alexander Scharf, principal of Esplanade Venture Partnership, which owns the Esplanade senior housing facility at 305 West End Avenue, faces up to a year in prison for violating the city’s Administrative Code, which requires that all parts of a building be maintained in a safe condition, the Real Deal reports. Bricks and mortar fell from the building in May 2015, killing Greta Greene and injuring her grandmother, who were sitting on a bench outside the Upper West Side facility.

Last summer, Masqsood Faruqi, the engineer who signed off on bogus inspections of the facade before the collapse, cut a plea bargain and received two years probation.