Owners of vehicles stored at a public indoor parking garage in Bedford Park have been anxiously awaiting news if their vehicles were destroyed following the collapse of the facility.

Police, fire and paramedics were dispatched to Dr. Parking, located at 3000 Jerome Ave. near Bedford Park Boulevard at just after 6 a.m. on Feb. 19.

Officials say there were no injuries, with workers managing to escape. Investigators from the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Building’s (DOB) were investigating.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported Number 4 Trains were running at a

reduced speed past the area to prevent any further collapse, causing subway delays in both directions for several hours.

One church on the block was forced to cancel Sunday service.

Vehicle owners were kept back by metal barricades manned by several police officers. Some were able to get their vehicles back. James, a Rhode Island man who runs an electronic business in New York, was among the lucky ones able to drive his Rodeo out of the garage Sunday evening.

“I left my car here last night. The car is fine, nothing happened to my car,” James said. “They didn’t tell me anything, but they just released my car according to the police officers instructions.”

James added that he’s a regular at the garage, which never had any problems until today. “It was a building infrastructure problem, this building may be a hundred years old or more,” he said.

By nightfall Edmond, a Bedford Park resident was still not sure of the fate of his 2007 Audi. He angrily explained, ” I just came an hour ago to pick up my car and I saw the police and they told me what happened.”

The Department of Buildings (DOB), which regulates structures, did not issue a full vacate order, though an emergency response team was dispatched to assess the collapse.

The garage had 100 parking spots and charged $11 per day or $225 for the month.

According to DOB records, the building has complaints or violations dating back to 1940 and currently has 11 complaints. In 2003 the owner was sited for having parking attendants fix a hole in the concrete. In 2010 Con Edison reported stray voltage was coming from a window guard, and in 2012 the owner paid a $1,500 fine for “failure to certify correction of (an) immediate hazardous condition.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.