Exclusive | Unsafe construction plans threaten to topple East Village apartment, landlord says: Puts us all in jeopardy

These neighbors are off to a shaky start.The owner and tenants of an East Village apartment building say errors in their next-door neighbor’s construction plans could send their adjoining, 125-year-old landmarked structure crashing down.Robert Proto, landlord of the 10-unit apartment building at 50 Second Ave.near New York University, told The Post he’ll have no choice but to sue the city Department of Buildings if it gives final approval to the 11-story condo project next door.“My structural engineer said my building would not withstand it,” Proto explained.

“This is a clear example of the DOB putting developers’ interests ahead of tenants’ safety.”One of Proto’s tenants texted him that they “ran out of the building because I was afraid it would fall” during recent work at the site, he said.“It’s despicable,’’ he claimed of the alleged lack of proper city oversight.Chinese developer Gemini Rosemont received the OK from the DOB this past summer to begin digging test pits at its site next door — after being told its first plans were riddled with “multiple code and zoning noncompliance issues.’’But Proto said even the relatively minor drilling associated with the Sept.11 dig caused his building to shake “uncontrollably.’’The drilling dug into a remnant wall at the construction site — a structure that happens to be affixed to Proto’s foundation wall, he said.Proto said test pits are used to find an existing building’s footings and ensure stability but that the developer’s plans incorrectly identify the landlord’s footings as being in another part of his building.“[The developer] would have to go in my basement to find my footings, and they never came to me for that,” Proto said.Worried longtime block resident Holly Glass said, “When the foundation cracks, when they’re digging down probably 1 foot closer than they’re supposed to be or they didn’t tie the building properly, one or all of our buildings a...