a.m. EDT August 11, 2003
Maria Avendano, 68, was killed in the collapse. She had been attending a birthday party there.The collapse of a backyard deck that left a woman dead and three people injured in Bayside, Queens, on Saturday night was caused by poor and probably illegal construction, inadequate maintenance and a hard winter and recent heavy rains that may have rotted the wood, city officials said yesterday.
Ilyse Fink, a spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings, said that city inspectors found that the two-tiered deck that collapsed at 37-11 221st Street had been nailed to the house rather than bolted, and that the wood was saturated with water.
She said summonses for failure to obtain a building permit and maintain the deck had been issued to the owner, Gerson Mendoza.
Mr. Mendoza refused to talk to reporters yesterday.
The collapse was also the talk of an uneasy neighborhood yesterday. Several homeowners said they suspected that the collapsed deck -- and others in the area -- had been built by a former resident. While neighbors did not know the circumstances surrounding the collapse, they expressed concern over what they said was a common practice of carrying out building improvements without city permits or inspections.
''People put things in and they don't get them inspected,'' said Carol Kennedy, who grew up two blocks from the house where the collapse occurred.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, marching in the Dominican Day Parade yesterday, called the collapse, and the death of 68-year-old Maria Avendano, tragic.
Responding to reporters' questions about safety issues raised by the collapse, he urged New Yorkers to call 311, the city hot line, to report unsafe conditions. He said city inspectors would respond and issue citations where they were warranted.
The police said the collapse occurred at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday during a birthday party for Mr. Mendoza, a chiropractor.
About six people were standing on the lower deck when it gave way and pulled the upper deck down with it. Ms. Avendano was pronounced dead at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where a 59-year-old woman was also admitted with serious leg injuries.
