Metro

Razing the roof in Queens

Neighbors yesterday said they weren’t shocked when the third floor of a Queens home suddenly gave way and turned into a giant slide — sending as many as 100 teens attending a 13-year-old’s birthday party tumbling down.

Miraculously, no one died, and only one person was seriously hurt — the older sister of the birthday boy. She’s expected to be OK.

A spokeswoman for the city Department of Buildings — which ordered the entire house, in Arverne in the Rockaways, vacated yesterday — said there were 100 teens at the party. Other guests, however, insisted the number was much smaller.

PHOTOS: QUEENS HOUSE COLLAPSE

The house was issued five violations in 2004, according to the department. The violations were issued for everything from not having the proper permits for construction to failure to fence off the work.

Neighbors said additions constructed at the site in 2004 and 2005 were poorly built.

“I’m surprised it held up this long,” said George O’Leary, a carpenter who lives nearby. “I’ve been watching that sag get bigger for months.”

His brother, a carpenter at the World Trade Center site, agreed.

“They were putting an addition onto a little one-story bungalow. C’mon! You’re just asking for trouble!” said Frank O’Leary. “Structurally, the integrity just wasn’t there. It was built like a treehouse.”

The owner of the home, Gopaul Gunpat, could not be reached.

Twelve youngsters were briefly trapped when the floor collapsed at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Eight were rescued by firefighters; the other four made their own way out of the Beach 72nd Street home.

Two people were taken to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, authorities said, including the older sister.

“When the floor fell, she slid all the way down to the second floor and something fell on her,” said Trey Clark, 13.

“The lights kept going, so it looked like a movie in there, all the dust being lit up by the lights.”