Brooklyn building collapse under investigation amid historic violations and nearby construction
City officials are probing the November 11 collapse of a three-story Brooklyn apartment block, citing unsafe construction at an adjacent site and a long record of code violations.
Two children and six adults, including two construction workers, died and 18 people were injured when a three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn collapsed on Nov. 11. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the Department of Buildings has opened an investigation that includes the adjacent construction site and identified five entities linked to 100 other city sites, which will be inspected for safety concerns.
A Department of Buildings vacate order initially attributed the collapse to "unsafe construction operations at the adjacent property, 2625 Bedford Avenue," but that language was later removed from the agency’s website.
Civil engineer Anil Kumar Y. Agrawal of City College of New York said all the factors for a collapse were present and that a basic engineering failure occurred. Former federal advisory committee member Glenn Corbett, now an associate professor at John Jay College, suggested a shoring system failure may have allowed soil from nearby excavations to destabilize the building’s north facade, which had been reported in March as being in poor condition with noticeable cracks.
City records show the 96-year-old structure had 98 housing violations dating back to 1972, including 21 classified as immediately hazardous for issues such as lead paint, a leaking roof and unsafe wiring. Recent violations required the owner to provide water for sprinkler systems and install functional smoke detectors.
The property is owned by Isolag Realty Group, represented by Olufemi Falade, who previously faced jail time and fines for failing to address violations at other buildings.
According to Department of Buildings commissioner Ahmed Tigani, developers were excavating for a proposed nine-story mixed-use building with a grocery store and residential units, though the plans had not been approved. Construction firm N Tech Design of America demolished a one-story structure on the site despite a stop-work order issued in March, and certified letters sent in June warned adjacent owners of upcoming excavation work.