I still do not have answers (and I refuse to ask even one more person one more time), but there has been work done, so this entry will document what's transpired on the property with the balconies to date.
On August 4, residents of Building B received the following memo, advising that work would begin to tear down and replace their balconies.
By noon on the 4th of August, the concrete flooring of the two balconies had been torn down.
Photo below shot on August 9th.
Sometime between August 9th and the 13th, when the two photos below were shot, permits for demolition and construction were taped to the (left) bottom glass door pictured.
The above photo gives a good look at the remnants of thin plywood that had been attached and then painted black about two years ago to cosmetically cover structural problems with the balconies.
It's not clear from these two permits exactly what work is to be done (there are dozens of balconies here) or what the time frame for the work is. In any event, the two balconies that came down on August 4th are the only two down as of today and it appears no progress has been made to begin constructing the new ones. In the meantime, two and a half weeks since the doors were made inoperable, people in the involved apartments have only one door out of their apartments and the other one is dead bolted so it cannot be used. It also means there is only one small window to open for any ventilation whatsoever.
Photos below taken August 21.
I am no longer actively trying to find out what's going on with the balconies. If someone knows and wants to advise, please do, but I'm just not chasing the wind anymore on this mess. I will continue to update this blog, as I said I would, until the work is finished, but considering the flow of information, updating may be slow.
While I'm here, however, I'll also leave one more picture, this one of one of the steps from one of the new stairways recently built. You can see where the wood is splitting; I don't remember whether this step is in the front or back, but I've seen at least one in this shape in both staircases. I have not looked at the side stairs.
