Excavation work at a construction site next door to a Brooklyn building that crumbled suddenly — killing eight people and injuring nearly 20 others — is being eyed as a possible cause of the devastating collapse.
The three-story Flatbush apartment building caved into the adjacent lot Wednesday afternoon as the excavation work was underway — prompting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to order a review of about 100 properties across the city linked to “five entities” involved in the construction.
“A tragedy of this magnitude demands a comprehensive and thorough investigation that includes both the construction site and the building which collapsed. That has already begun,” Mamdani said at a press conference Thursday.
“If there is anyone, or any entity, operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable,” he vowed.
“We will find out what happened and we will share that information with New Yorkers.”
The Department of Buildings was also investigating an anonymous complaint filed a couple of hours after 1321 Flatbush Ave. collapsed that claimed contractors at the neighboring 2625 Bedford Ave. construction site were digging too close to the doomed apartments.
“The subcontractor may have excavated too much of the area along the neighboring foundation at once,” the tip read, before describing “stepped footing” intervals and various particular measurements and procedures undertaken at the worksite.
“Please determine whether the excavation sequence, the extent of foundation exposure, or the soil and groundwater conditions contributed to the collapse,” it added. “I believe the collapse may have been preventable.”
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Two children were among the dead, officials said Thursday, while terrifying photos showed a neighboring building with the wall sloughed off — and placid bedrooms and clothing-filled closets next door exposed to the chasm.
The anonymous complaint was the latest red flag raised about the construction project, which was issued a stop-work order in March after DOB inspectors concluded work was being done without adequate overhead protection, such as netting and sheds, to shield neighboring structures.
“They are Doing Demolition with out a Permit of The property,” an anonymous complaint to the DOB read. “Equips and Debry is Flaying everywhere [sic].”
A report the DOB filed in March found that the north facade of the neighboring building on Flatbush Avenue was “in poor condition with noticeable cracks identified.”
Investigators issued a violation notice in April because the developers had gone ahead with the demolition despite the stop-work order, and they were forced to pay a $10,000 fine.
Work was eventually allowed to continue in May when safety structures were erected, according to DOB officials.
Records show the Flatbush site was acquired in 2024 for $4 million by Judy Swimer and Faigy Fischman, Commercial Observer reported.
Work reportedly began in September 2025 with the demolition of a longstanding one-story storefront at 2625 Bedford Ave. to make way for what was initially going to be a 10-story building, and then a three-floor, 25,000-square-foot mixed-use building.
New building permits filed in January listed Robert Fischman of W6 Facility X LLC as the site owner and developer — and records show they were seeking zoning approvals for a far larger nine-story building with 64 units and a ground-floor grocery store.
Contractor Mordechai “Marty” Waisbrod, of Townhouse Buildings, began the possibly-fateful excavation work in September, records show.
The company obtained a permit for a construction fence, dated Nov. 10, one day before the adjoining building collapsed, according to documents obtained by The Post.
Mamdani, asked about the March DOB report that found cracks in the facade of the collapsed building, said he was “incredibly troubled.”
“These are the examples of why we are conducting a full and thorough investigation, and why the investigation will not stop at the sites that we are here to speak about today, but will extend to any and all sites those who operated these sites are currently operating across our city,” he said.
There were “approximately 100 other sites across the city” associated with the “five main entities” involved in the construction, Mamdani said, though he did not elaborate on whether those were active construction jobs or standing buildings.
“Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today,” the mayor said.
DOB commissioner Ahmed Tigani said that while the report about the facade was issued the same month as the stop-work order, it was not the cause of the directive.
“There were no violations or 311 complaints related to that in advance,” Tigani said, before Mamdani chimed in.
Records show violations issued to 1321 Flatbush Ave. consisted largely of complaints about varmints, smoke detectors and peeling lead paint — but no structural issues were flagged until construction began next door.
The owner of the collapsed building, Olufemi Falade, was sentenced to a dozen days in jail in 2009 after 12 of his buildings racked up over 1,800 DOB violations over residents living in squalor.
“This owner is perhaps one of the most egregious examples we’ve seen citywide of flouting the law and forcing his residents to live in horrible conditions,” Housing Preservation and Development officials said at the time, adding the city spent nearly $200,000 on emergency work to repair Falade’s buildings.
Some 80 violations at a single building — just down the road from the site of the collapse — were deemed “immediately hazardous” and cost the city about $17,000 to repair.
None of the parties involved in both 1321 Flatbush Ave. and 2625 Bedford Ave. could be reached for comment.
— Additional reporting by Joe Marino
