Chumley's Collapsed - Updated With Corrections

The legendary Greenwich Village speakeasy Chumley's appears to have succumbed to a building collapse. The building facade collapsed earlier today and the FDNY is on the scene and will be taking down the rest of the building. There have been problems with the facade for some time, and the owners of the building have been trying to get the repairs done, but the bar and another tenant had managed to block the repairs claiming that the repairs would force them out in favor of higher paying tenants.

Curbed has the details, including photographs. (HT: Anonymous emailer)

For a history of Chumleys, see here. Forgotten NY has a roundup of old-time bars and speakeasies, including Chumley's.

I've had the opportunity to visit Chumley's once, but never got to experience the full effect. It will be missed.

UPDATE:
I got the opportunity to walk past the building earlier today (4:50PM) and saw emergency personnel walking around the site. I didn't see a facade collapse, but there was scaffold up along with several pieces of wood blocking. The streets immediately adjacent to the site have been blocked off and there was some press on the scene though no camera crews from the local tv stations. As Curbed notes, the facade itself did not collapse as first reported, but there was an interior wall collapse and the engineers have determined that the building does not appear to have to come down just yet. Chumley's may not be a total loss, though it also appears that there was work going on illegally.

Official word from the Dept. of Buildings: "Earlier today, Buildings inspectors and engineers were called to assess structural damage to the building at 86 Bedford Street in Manhattan. The chimney at 86 Bedford Street separated from the interior wall and collapsed into the bar area. There were no injuries. Two buildings have been temporarily vacated pending the completion of the shoring work. The Red Cross is assisting with relocating the tenants. Buildings engineers have determined the building is not in danger of collapse. Demolition of the building is not being considered at this time. Buildings is working with the building owner and shoring company to stabilize the collapsed area. The building owner had been issued a permit to remove and replace the landmarked façade. The building owner had submitted an application to the Buildings Department to conduct construction work on the interior of the building. The Buildings Department has not issued a permit for that application. The Buildings Department is issuing three violations for working without a permit and unsafe construction practices."