The Clam Broth House is a Hoboken landmark, with its famous huge neon lit finger pointing to the entrance. The restaurant and bar has been open in Hoboken since 1899 and served dockworkers in its heyday. But the structural integrity of this historic vestige is in jeopardy after a portion of the building buckled Wednesday, causing cracks to open and bricks to bulge out of the side of the building.
The building contains the Clam Broth House restaurant, “Boo Boo’s Bar,” the Cadillac Bar, and 11 residential units.
The approximately 12 residential tenants of the building were evacuated safely, and there have been no injuries. According to the mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Campbell, the building is not currently in danger of falling, but the exact extent of the structural damage will not be known until some of the bricks are removed.
The buckled portion of the building is about halfway up the four-story structure from the street, according to Senior Housing Inspector Joe Grossi. Grossi said that the damaged section of the building appears to be caused by the façade being pulled downward by the weight of one of the upper fire escapes.
Campbell said that cold winter weather and old age are likely contributors.
The Red Cross was on hand Thursday to assist residents who needed temporary shelter. Most, if not all, of the residents had friends or family with whom they are able to stay, said Campbell. Thursday morning, for about an hour, residents of the units were allowed inside to take personal clothes and other items.
Also Thursday, engineers and city workers were busy stabilizing the building with beams. According to Campbell, they also removed many of the building’s windows and installed crossbeams to stabilize the window frames.
“It’s going to take a couple of days to make sure the building is completely stabilized,” said Campbell. “Once it is secured, the tenants will again be allowed inside to remove furniture or other items that they might need.”
At that point, he said, workers will remove the fire escapes and the big Clam Broth hand. They will dismantle the bricks in the affected area. Grace Lynch, an architect hired by the city to examine the stability of the structure, said it could take weeks or longer for all repairs to be completed.
“Right now, we really don’t have a timetable when it comes to repairs,” said Campbell. “Until we start removing those bricks, we won’t know the extent of damage to the building’s structure.”
Arthur Pelaez, who has owned the residential units in the building for 25 years, said Wednesday that he will do everything he can to get the residents back into the units.
“I feel bad for the people,” he said. “There is nothing we can do about it, except get it fixed as fast as possible.”
According to Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, who is the chairman of the Hoboken Historic Preservation Committee, because the building is in a historic zone, all repairs must conform to established standards that apply to historically significant buildings.