“Upon arrival, officers observed a partial building collapse and immediately began coordinating with fire and building department units,” an NYPD spokesman said. Incinerators were common in mid‑century public housing; over time they were largely replaced by trash compactors and modernized chutes. How did an incinerator shaft come to collapse? But this collapse is a reminder — visceral and public — that city stewardship matters. How much do we value the safety of public housing residents?