Smashed on the span: Homeless man’s Manhattan Bridge hut torn down by city workers

The Department of Transportation (DOT) took sledgehammers Tuesday to a makeshift house on the Manhattan Bridge built by a homeless man. 

NYPD officers and Department of Social Services agents watched on July 19 as DOT workers dragged hefty tools toward a small wooden hut which had been constructed beside the bike lane on the Manhattan side connecting to Chinatown.

According to the New York Post, Zou Yifan constructed the shack since he could no longer afford the skyrocketing New York rent prices.

Although Yifan was not at home when the wrecking crew arrived, he appeared to have been a gifted carpenter since the structure took quite the pummeling before beginning to yield to the brute force. DOT workers began by pulverizing the padlocked door before battering the walls from the inside out.

Passing bicyclists stopped and watched as all manner of belongings poured from the meager dwelling. Blankets, tin cans, pots and pans, and even a rice cooker fell to the concrete below.

Incredibly, the shack was electrified, according to DOT. The city agency discovered a slew of exposed wires from a box attached to the bridge from which Yifan seemed to have been siphoning power. 

In order to fully dismantle the resilient structure, one DOT member was forced to climb the bridge and yank off the wooden roof. While the encampment was eventually fully dismantled and the area cleaned, however, DOT was forced to call in an electrician to deal with the exposed wiring.

amNewYork Metro reached out to DOT for comment and is awaiting a response.