by MELISSA JANE KRONFELD
A vacant five-story hotel collapsed in Chelsea last night, the Fire Department said.
The former La Semana Hotel on 24th Street and Sixth Avenue fell into itself leaving a giant, although relatively tidy, pile of rubble, witnesses said. There were no injuries reported.
The collapse just before 8 p.m. shut down Sixth Avenue around the site as crews worked to clean up the area.
"It sounded like an explosion and I thought it was a plane," said Marvin Lamar, 39, who heard the building fall from nearby Touro College. "It was pretty scary. I want to go home," he said.
The front facade of the building was still standing, but the rear was destroyed.
Buildings Department records indicate that the building is owned by George Vallario Jr., a former New York City attorney who now lives in Delray Beach, Fla.
In 1985, Vallario was one of 19 charged with racketeering in a crackdown on the Genovese crime family. The federal indictment was tried by then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Vallario could not be reached for comment last night.
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