New York City building collapse probe raises questions about neighboring property owner’s violation history
The owner of a property next to the site of Wednesday’s deadly building collapse in New York City is facing scrutiny over past construction violations, including a contractor’s decision to defy a city stop-work order in March, according to public records.
Wednesday afternoon's collapse of a three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn resulted in the deaths of at least eight people and triggered a massive emergency response. The building collapse has raised questions about construction activity next door, where city records show prior violations and a stop-work order that was issued months beforehand.
A stop work order was issued at the adjacent property, 2621 Bedford Ave., in March by New York City's Department of Buildings, according to public records obtained by Fox News Digital.
The agency determined that the contractors, N Tech Design of America, had failed to install proper safety precautions which included netting and sheds, Department of Buildings spokesperson Andrew Rudansky told The Gothamist.
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One month later, an inspector with the Department of Buildings found that the demolition work proceeded and issued a $10,000 penalty. The order was lifted on May 8.
NYC Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said during a news conference on Wednesday that excavation work was ongoing at the Bedford Avenue site when the building collapsed.
"The type of work they were conducting was excavation work on that job site. And so, that was what they were working on today. They have a plan approved for a three-story building, but they have current plans looking for a nine-story building, which has not yet been approved for. At this point, all we have at this time is excavation work in that section of the construction site," Tigani said.
Tigani said the construction workers were "digging down."
Agency records show the Bedford Avenue building's owner, Robert Fischman, sent a letter to landlords neighboring the property in June to inform them of the excavation.
A representative for N Tech Design of America told WABC that the company performed the demolition but left the site by late April or early May, months before Wednesday's collapse.
Read the notice of construction:
Engineering plans for the neighboring construction site also addressed the potential for accumulated water to damage nearby foundations. A drainage note states that construction operations accounted for preventing water accumulation, which "could cause damage to nearby building foundations on the subject property or on adjacent properties."
It was not immediately clear whether the precautions outlined in the engineering plans had been implemented or whether any structural concerns were documented before the collapse.
Read the documents prior to approval:
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"We have immediately launched a full investigation into how exactly this happened with our law enforcement partners, and we will be looking into all aspects of the building and the neighboring construction site," Tigani said.
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The New York Police Department said the first 911 call on the building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Ave. came in at 4:01 p.m. The property, a three-story mixed-use building, collapsed into an excavation pit at a neighboring construction site. The collapse also tore away a wall of 1323 Flatbush Ave., leaving apartments and stairwells exposed.
Firefighters with the New York City Fire Department reached the scene within a minute after the building collapsed, as there were already some in the area. The building contained a store at street level and apartments above it.
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Notify NYC issued a warning for heavy emergency personnel activity, traffic delay and road closures in the area.
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Several news outlets reported that people were trapped beneath the rubble, adding that the FDNY had launched a major rescue operation.
A CBS New York camera captured firefighters talking with a dust-covered woman after breaking through a collapsed wall.
After firefighters got a woman into an ambulance, a man who had been desperately searching for his wife told reporters that she survived the building collapse.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least 17 people had been injured, with two dead. By Thursday morning, the number of people who died because of the collapse had reached at least eight people.
"I am heartbroken that eight New Yorkers have now lost their lives and at least 17 have been injured, including three firefighters," Mamdani said in a post on X. "There are no words for a loss of this magnitude. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today."
Fox News Digital reached out to Fischman and N Tech Design of America for comment.
