Brooklyn Building Collapses Beside Excavation Site, Killing at Least 2 and Injuring 17

A three-story building at 2625 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood collapsed just after 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11. It fell into a deep excavation pit on the lot next door.

At least two people are dead. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said 17 others were injured, including seven children. Four of the injured are in critical condition.

As of early Thursday, Nov. 12, rescuers were still digging.

The scene on Bedford Avenue

The building went up in 1930, according to city data. It held a ground-floor commercial space and four apartments.

When it came down, the wall of the adjoining three-story building was sheared off. A staircase, bedrooms and closets were left open to the air.

About 250 firefighters and other emergency responders worked the pile with pickaxes, power saws, drones and search dogs. At night they dug by hand, passing debris along in buckets.

Around 6:30 p.m., a pregnant woman was found alive and taken by ambulance for medical treatment. Her husband told reporters at the scene, "She is alive, she is still alive. I am very happy." Other people were pulled out as the night went on.

Authorities have not said whether any of the seven injured children were among the dead.

Fire officials said they did not know how many people might still be missing. They said the operation would likely continue for days.

"This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. Bonsignore called the work "dangerous and perilous" and said, "Every move is choreographed."

Fire Chief John Esposito said the main concern is a "secondary collapse."

One firefighter suffered minor injuries.

The families

Anderson Velez told the New York Post he was at work when his wife called to say their two children, ages 2 and 7, were among those trapped in the rubble. He later learned his family had been rescued alive.

Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn said she knew a family of six who lived in the building. "There's a family of six who lives there who comes to the block party every year," she said.

More people than usual may have been home. It was Veterans Day, and schools and some businesses were closed.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said her administration had offered its "full support as authorities investigate what happened." Mamdani asked New Yorkers to pray for the dead and the injured.

The construction site next door

The cause has not been determined. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said workers were excavating the empty lot next door for a new building when the structure fell.

Mamdani said the Department of Buildings and law enforcement will lead the investigation.

The lot had held a one-story building that was demolished. The Department of Buildings said it had approved plans for a three-story building there. Developers have since submitted plans for a nine-story building. Officials said excavation was underway when the collapse happened.

The Daily Wire reported that the Department of Buildings cited the demolition contractor in April for continuing work in violation of a stop-work order. It also reported that the contractor paid $10,000 in penalties in October. The New York Times reported that the department ordered the property owner in March to halt the demolition, but that upon re-inspection inspectors found the entire structure had been leveled, and that the department issued a $10,000 fine. The two accounts differ on the month.

It is not clear whether the demolition damaged the structure of the building that collapsed. The earlier violation has not been tied to the collapse.

What comes next

The Department of Buildings is both leading the inquiry and the agency that approved plans for the lot next door. Whether its own permit and inspection history at the site becomes part of the investigation has not been announced.

The immediate questions are who is still missing and how many of the 17 injured will survive. Beyond that, investigators have to determine what caused a building constructed in 1930 to give way beside an open pit, and who bears responsibility.