The Inspectional Services Department (ISD) cited a residential building on Chestnut Street for “dangerous and unsafe conditions” last Tuesday after a Times reader called attention to the potential hazard.
ISD Commissioner Bryan Glascock said a city inspector issued a violation to the condominium association for 54 Chestnut St. after observing “maintenance issues with the windows and a leaning chimney” from an abutter’s window.
Following up on earlier reports that the reader had left on the city’s Citizens Connect mobile app (visit www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/citizensconnect.asp for more information), the inspector visited the site several days before he issued the citation, but was unable to view the unsafe conditions from the street, Glascock said.
The city cited the violation one day after the Times inquired about the building at the urging of the reader, who reported two large window frames hanging loosely from the top floor of the four-story brownstone approximately 40 feet above the street.
“The smaller loose frame just crashed to the sidewalk,” the reader wrote in an e-mail to the Times. “There has been no sign of life at this building for at least a year.”
Glascock thanked the reader for bringing the matter to the city’s attention.