Discussion
At Least 8 Dead in #Brooklyn #BuildingCollapse, as Crews Scour Rubble
Over a dozen others were injured, some critically, when a 3-story building in the #Flatbush neighborhood collapsed.
The 3-story building collapsed at 1321 Flatbush Ave just after 4PM Wednesday, falling into a hole created by a construction site at a neighboring lot.
Fire officials said the search would most likely continue for days & that they did not know how many people might still be missing.
Removing the adjacent building essentially made the building a corner building, the retired Chief Structural Engineer of the NYC Department of Buildings said. Corner buildings with stores at their base are “extremely fragile,” he said.
When excavation is done on an adjacent building, contractors are obliged by New York City Building Code to examine the capacity of the adjoining building when calculating construction loads, Eschenasy said.
“A slight problem with supporting the excavation might have led to the collapse,” he explained. “Any movement beyond half an inch of the soil can start a collapse.”
While this type of building may have had some fragilities due to age, not all old buildings next to construction sites collapse, he said. “The building code says you have to protect the adjacent building. It’s very clear. It’s an obligation,” Eschenasy said.
The number of fatalities caused by the #BuildingCollapse is unusual, Eschenasy said. Typically, he said, “people hear some noises & they have the time to run out…they have like 3–4 minutes to get out.”
He believes the darkness may have had an impact on the fatality rate. “The firemen had problems understanding fully what was happening. They are extremely trained…They know what to do & they did whatever they could,” he said, adding there is a class they take on the collapse of masonry buildings.
#Brooklyn #BuildingCollapse very likely to have been caused by construction next door, says forensic engineer
Forensic engineer Dan Eschenasy said it is very likely the collapse was caused by the adjacent construction site.
The frame building with masonry walls & wood floors, on its own lacked structural support due to the presence of a store entrance with large windows instead of masonry at street level, Eschenasy said.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/11/us/live-news/brooklyn-building-collapse-nyc?adobe_mc=TS%3D1794494443%7CMCMID%3D18723306332579596368327107292363910737%7CMCORGID%3D7FF852E2556756057F000101%40AdobeOrg&iid=cnn-mobile-app&post-id=cmwdkpqic0000356up363qnk5
Emergency workers rescue a victim after the building collapsed in Brooklyn