Construction Site Next to Deadly Brooklyn Building Collapse Had History of Safety Issues

As authorities continue to search through the rubble of a deadly building collapse in Flatbush, Brooklyn, that killed eight, troubling details have emerged about safety concerns at a neighboring construction site.

On Wednesday afternoon, the three-story mixed-use building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue collapsed, taking the shared wall of 1323 Flatbush with it, leaving the bedrooms and closets of residents in that building exposed.

The deadly tragedy occurred next to an active construction site at 2625 Bedford Avenue, where an existing structure had been demolished and excavation was underway to build a new residential building.

In a press conference at the scene of the tragedy, Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed a full investigation into what preceded and caused the collapse, including whether the construction work underway at 2625 Bedford played any role.

"If there is anyone or any entity operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them accountable," the mayor said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference near the site of a building that collapsed a day earlier in Brooklyn in New York on November 12, 2026. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

The construction site at 2625 Bedford was purchased for $3.99 million by a pair of LLCs registered to Judith Swimer and Faigy Fischman in June 2024, just days after the duo purchased another property at 600 Utica Avenue in East Flatbush for $5 million, according to public records.

Public records show they initially planned to develop a three-story apartment building on the lot, but the project had been plagued with stops and starts over amendments to the building plan and safety concerns from city inspectors.

In March of this year, the Department of Buildings halted the demolition of a one-story building on the site after an inspector reported that demolition contractor N Tech Design of America had failed to take proper safety precautions, including installing netting and putting up sidewalk shields, records show.

A month later, inspectors returned to the site and found that the demolition had gone ahead anyway, in defiance of the stop-work order, according to city records. A $10,000 fine was issued.

In May, a city inspector issued additional citations and another stop-work order against the contractors for allegedly failing to ensure adequate protections of neighboring buildings and for deviating from approved construction plans. Within a week, the city lifted that stop-work order.

According to signs posted on the site, the construction and development management firm Promont is overseeing the project. Realtor.com has reached out to Promont for comment.

The alleged deviation from filed plans may have been related to a new permitting request submitted by Robert Fischman of WG Facility X LLC, amending the proposed project to a nine-story structure on the site with a ground-floor grocery store. That amended permit request has not yet been approved.

Robert Fischman has a troubled history. In 1999, Fischman was charged in a real estate kickback scheme involving his company, M.S. Berkoff Co. Earlier this year, Berkoff Supply sent tenants of 1321 Flatbush a letter alerting them to the excavation work.

Members of the New York City Fire Department and first responders work at the scene a day after a building collapsed in Brooklyn in New York on November 12, 2026. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

The exposed interior of 1323 Flatbush, following the collapse of 1321 Flatbush Ave. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

Jessie Kramer is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado. She has deep experience in forensic engineering, including uncovering the causes of building collapses.

Kramer told Realtor.com that an older brick building adjacent to an active excavation site immediately raises red flags.

“Tons of thoughts pop up when I see something like that,” she says. "My day-to-day is looking at collapsed buildings, looking at failed buildings, and saying, 'Why did this happen? How widespread is the damage?' And often, the answer involves multiple issues."

On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mamdani announced that the city would sweep 100 other properties associated with five entities tied to the construction site at 2625 Bedford. The mayor and the city’s Building Commissioner declined to name those entities.

History of violations at collapsed building

Isolag Realty Corp. purchased 1321 Flatbush in 2024, and Olufemi Falade signed the deed. The property consisted of four residential units and a ground-floor commercial space. A 3-bedroom unit in the building rented for $3,550.

The 96-year-old building had 98 recorded violations according to the city's Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development dating back to 1972. Eleven of those violations were from this past year, including a violation for "unsafe electrical wiring" and a notice to "provide an adequate supply of water for the wet sprinkler and/or standpipe."

Falade has a tumultuous history of building ownership. In 2006, he spent 12 days in jail for failing to repair issues in numerous properties he owned.

“In just 12 buildings he owns, there are more than 1,800 violations of the city’s housing and maintenance codes,” Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan told the New York Post at the time.

"I can't speak to what potential deficiencies might have been there before this happened," Kramer said. "But I can say on a building of this age, our modern codes differ a ton from what were the standards back then. So it's imperative to keep up with maintenance in these old buildings. And that's an active process. Owners have to be super on top of it."

“People obviously are wanting answers immediately, and that’s not going to happen,” Kramer said. “This is going to be a years-long investigation process to decide who’s at fault and what happened.”

Andrea Cavallier contributed to this report.