A county bus crashed into his building. Now, he’s trying to save it from demolition
"I will fulfill my promise," he begins to read the note before his voice fades to a soft sniffle.
Omega, who has four children, has been rummaging through papers in what used to be his office, when he finds the framed gift. Judith promised in the note to become a doctor (she did) and he promised her to keep Omega Fashions, his Little Haiti tailor and clothing design boutique, going.
It was a promise he could keep until nine days ago when a
Five days later, the bus was safely removed and the building remained intact, due to nine support systems built by construction workers hired by
Rodriguez, who declined to comment, had no car insurance, according to the police report.
Omega didn't have property insurance on the 92-year-old building, which he bought in 1988 for
Omega says he's getting little information from either the city of
The city said it isn't planning to compensate him,
The city left a demolition notice taped to the back of the store on
To the eye, the inside of the building looks unscathed. The walls are intact, as are the roof and windows. The outside is a bit different -- nine metal poles are holding up the front of the building and the door is damaged.
Omega has no idea how much damage was caused because he says the city hasn't given him the building inspection report. He has been trying to get an estimator to assess building and potential costs.
According to the
The demolition order was signed by
According to
Omega was not the only occupant of the building.
Hulan said she has lost
"Life goes on," she said in Creole.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated which government entity hired construction workers to build support systems after the bus crashed into the building..
___
(c)2018 Miami Herald
Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Allentown charges nonprofit Good Shepherd $700,000 in business taxes
La Cañada husband and wife accused of fraudulently collecting $1 million in life insurance
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News