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Engineers, code enforcement and city officials discuss the structural failure of the Central Warehouse on Friday, July 29, 2022, in Albany, N.Y. The city has declared a state of emergency and Amtrak temporarily suspended service west of Albany after chunks of the facade of the Central Warehouse fell.

ALBANY — Pieces continued to fall Monday morning from the blighted Central Warehouse as inspectors examined the damage to the towering downtown structure that has forced Amtrak to cancel trains and effectively paralyzed rail travel through New York's capital city.

A Times Union photographer was working near the 143 Montgomery St. building when at least one chunk gave way and crashed to the ground. A second piece of debris could be heard hitting the ground too.

Amtrak on Thursday canceled train service past the warehouse after chunks of the facade gave way. Amtrak canceled several others trains on Monday and relied on buses to get travelers from the train station in Rensselaer to stations in Saratoga Springs and Schenectady.

None of the debris fell on the tracks and the move to suspend services was precautionary, Amtrak said last week. It is unclear when full service will be restored.

Amtrak officials could not be reached Monday. So far, no one from Mayor Kathy Sheehan's office has responded Times Union requests for comment.

Several passenger trains scheduled to run between Niagara Falls and Albany on Monday were canceled and buses will be used to keep the Ethan Allen train link running to Burlington, Vt., Amtrak announced.

The Empire Service trains 280, 284, 281, and 283 will not run between Niagara Falls and Albany. Buses will be used between Albany and Schenectady's stations for Maple Leaf trains 63 and 64.

Amtrak says it will use buses between Albany and the Saratoga Springs train station to keep the just-relaunched Ethan Allen routes 290 and 291 moving. 

Amtrak service west of Albany remained closed four days after chunks of the facade of Central Warehouse, one of Albany's biggest and most notorious eyesores, fell late Thursday.

Albany officials declared a state of emergency and Amtrak temporarily suspended service west of Albany, and on the Lake Shore Limited train, after chunks of the Central Warehouse fell late Thursday.

A structural-engineering report the city received last week states that portions of the exterior southern wall are in danger of imminent collapse.

Amtrak service will remain between the Rensselaer station across the river from Albany and New York City, but an Amtrak spokesman said there was no immediate timeline on how long other services in the area would be affected by the falling facade.

The Central Warehouse has been at the center of several legal battles between its current owner, Evan Blum, and Albany County. The county has been trying for over a year to seize the property for back taxes. Blum, who bought the building in 2017, owes more than $500,000 in back taxes, including some from before he owned the building.

On Friday, Blum said he learned about the building's latest problem when another news outlet contacted him for comment. Blum said no city officials had reached out to him about it.

Blum attempted to cast doubt on the extent of the problem, arguing the city had commissioned the report on the building's failing condition solely to make him look bad.

Mike Goodwin has been a stock broker, garbage man, and a house painter. He has been a journalist since 1995 and the Times Union has been his home since 2002. As a city desk editor, he's on the front lines of newsgathering for the Capital Region's newspaper. Think you have an interesting story? Contact him at mgoodwin@timesunion.com or 518-454-5465.

Will Waldron is the Times Union photo editor.

Steve covers the city and county of Albany for the Times Union. He previously covered police, fire and accidents as the paper's breaking news reporter. Reach him at shughes@timesunion.com or 518-454-5438.