The Moda: Epilogue

Well, the weather is cold and the news is slow, so I'm going to revisit one of my favorite stories from the last few months. I've written about it here and here as it developed, but now it's worth a mention that the situation has finally come to a resolution.

It involves the brand-new Moda Apartments on 3rd Ave., between Bell & Battery. About a month and a half ago, I got a tip that a gang of subcontractors (from an outfit called Brace Point Railing showed up unannounced with ladders, promptly disassembled about a half dozen balconies, threw the components into their truck and drove away. The workmen cited the Moda's lack of payment as the reason for their action, claiming that their company had been owed something like $20,000 for months. The story went as far as the local news, but quickly faded away. Meanwhile, those half dozen balconies were being replaced by parts cannibalized from other areas of the building. For me, that was the most bizarre aspect of the story. Instead of having six balconies that were unsafe, the Moda management made other sectors or its own building unsafe just to effect partial repairs on the balconies. It was madness.

Well, a month after the situation presented itself, it seems that the Moda has had its day in court against Brace Point Railing and it has emerged victorious. The terms of the settlement are unclear, but Brace Point Railing has returned all the parts that they repossessed. It's unknown whether they got the money that was owed to them, but as you can see from the photo above, they have their balconies back. They had to hire another company to reinstall them, but now Moda residents previously deprived of the opportunity to survey their domain can now stroll their eight square feet of balcony in relative safety.