In a parking lot on Country Club Road in Vestal, 12 cars sit waiting to be appraised for the damage they sustained when a parking structure fell on top of them at 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 8.
The cars belong to residents of Hayes Community Apartments, which owned the structure that collapsed. The structure, which was meant to protect residents’ cars from inclement weather, consisted of a metal roof supported by metal poles and wooden beams.
The reasons for the collapse are unknown. Barbara Hunsinger, Hayes’ property manager, refused to answer questions concerning the situation.
“We would prefer if you didn’t write an article regarding the parking structure collapse,” Hunsinger said.
A maintenance worker for the property who preferred to remain anonymous suspected the structure might have fallen under the weight of accumulated snow.
Hayes resident Alex Feldberg, whose 2004 Chevy Malibu was rendered immobile from the collapse, offered a similar assessment.
“It was snowing that night,” Feldberg said. “There was already three inches of compacted ice, and then probably another three inches of snow on top of that, which I guess is what caused the structure to collapse.”
Feldberg, a senior double-majoring in chemistry and French, learned of the collapse at 4:30 a.m. last week when his roommate woke him up to look out of their window.
“I saw that the parking structure had collapsed,” he said. “I saw the firefighters assessing things, and I went downstairs to look at my car and saw that most of them were completely covered by snow and debris.”
The damage to Feldberg’s car was substantial.
“My roof is crushed,” Feldberg said. “My windshield is broken and cracked, the back window is smashed, my moon roof is completely gone and obviously my car is dented and scratched all over.”
Samuel Weintraub, a junior majoring in music, also had his windshield smashed in the collapse. He said he learned of the damage after hearing a loud banging noise coming from outside.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Weintraub said on Tuesday. “Then the fire department came, and they told me that my car was one of the damaged ones. It took them a long time to uncover the cars from the debris. Mine was just uncovered yesterday.”
While waiting for the insurance adjuster to appraise the damage to his car, Weintraub is driving a rental. He does not know when his car will be appraised or towed from the parking lot.
This is something Tom Murray, a Hayes resident who normally parked under the structure that collapsed, does not have to worry about.
“I was parked under there that night and then I just decided to go and get pizza at like 11 p.m.,” said Murray, a junior majoring in finance. “When I came back, I decided to park under a different [structure]. Next thing I know, it’s 3 a.m. and they’re knocking on my door, doing a head count to make sure everyone is alright.”
For those who were not so lucky, the management at Hayes Community Apartments offered two options. They could either have their own insurance companies assess the damage, fix the car and later be reimbursed by Hayes’ insurance provider MiddleOak, or they could have MiddleOak appraise the cars and pay for the damage.
“I’ve chosen to go through Hayes’ insurance, which basically means that I have to wait for an appraiser to come and estimate the damage,” Feldberg explained. “Once they give me a damage estimate, I can have it towed and then fixed for the amount that it was appraised for.”
In Feldberg’s opinion, Hayes should have done more to rectify the situation.
“I think it could have been handled a little better, to be honest,” said Feldberg, who has been taking the bus to get around ever since the parking structure fell. “A day or two after the collapse [Hayes] gave us a notice of apology and the contact information for their insurance agent. But I feel like because it’s their fault, they should have done something more, especially because there are so many people involved. They should have had a more coordinated plan of action.”