A City of Pittsburgh contractor accidentally destroys a man’s home
In a blighted area of Pittsburgh, Penn., Andre Hall was renovating a long-vacant house at 3224 Motor St. He’d already replaced the windows and done some drywall work. But on Monday, he arrived on site to see a backhoe sitting on top of his house. A contractor, under orders of the city, had demolished it. “I thought it was a dream. I thought this wasn’t real,” Hall told a local TV reporter. “I drove around the block to make sure I was at the right street and at the right address.” The city is blaming the contractor. John Jennings, acting chief of the city’s Bureau of Building Inspection, said only the house next door was supposed to be taken down—but the contractor also destroyed 3224, despite being notified in writing not to do that.