The tabloids and local television stations had fun over the weekend with this one. A 28-year-old guy who was apparently partying on the roof of 17 Allen St. (near Canal Street) had to be rescued by firefighters after getting stuck in the building’s chimney.
According to Daily News, Geoffroy Massuelle of Bed-Stuy was trapped 13-feet down the chute when firefighters arrived at about 7:30 a.m. They had to smash a bathroom wall on the 7th floor to access the chimney. That bathroom, the Post added, was inside a commercial establishment called “House of Marley,” a business that sells Bob Marley memorabilia. The victim ended up using a rope ladder to climb to safety. FDNY Battalion Chief John Spillane said, “I think he was more embarrassed than anything else He realized he couldn’t get out without our help.”
Massuelle, his girlfriend and a resident of the Lower East Side building were all up on the roof. They may have gotten locked out while hanging out up there to watch the sunrise. The girlfriend also went down the chimney but managed to get herself out.
The Daily News explained:
A half-empty bottle of Tequila was found on the roof next to the chimney along with a collection of beer bottles. Signs forbid people from going onto the building’s roof, landlord Yvonne Psang angrily pointed out. “How could you not see the signs?” she asked. “He’s a young man and the views are good up here. They’re crazy you know?”
The ordeal may have exposed an illegal occupancy issue in the building. More from the Post:
The incident might get the hard-partying third-floor resident and building’s owner in trouble with the city’s Department of Buildings. That’s because 17 Allen St. is zoned strictly for commercial use, and any evidence of residential living there could bring fines of between $2,500 and $12,000, a Department of Buildings rep said Saturday. The agency will take a close look at 17 Allen St., for evidence of anyone living there. “An inspector will make the determination on what conditions must be observed that would substantiate illegal residential occupancy,” a buildings department rep said… The building had been investigated before for the same complaint, in 2011, but “inspectors didn’t find residential occupancy at the time,” the Department of Buildings rep said.
Massuelle was briefly hospitalized but later released after being checked out.
