NEW YORK, NY March 05, 2008 —Prior to the collapse, the Department of Buildings inspected the complex 5 times in the past year and issued 5 violations to the owner for failing to maintain the exterior wall of the building.

John Ryan works at East Side Floors on the same block and says he called the city to complain many times over the past 4 months because the structure looked unstable.

RYAN: Anybody walking up that street could see 2 holes in that building large enough to drive a vehicle through.

Jared Kushner, publisher of The New York Observer, owns the building. His spokesperson says that when engineers discovered bricks were falling from the structure, they contacted the Department of Buildings to get permission to begin demolition this week.

But, DOB spokesperson Kate Lindquist says no applications were filed with the office to do so.

For WNYC, I'm Kathleen Horan.