Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani (D) and New York City Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore have responded to a deadly building collapse on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City. The Department of Buildings is set to sweep around a hundred other potentially dangerous construction sites.
What Happened?
On Wednesday, a three-story building in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, collapsed into an adjacent excavation site. The building contained four residential apartments and a ground-floor commercial unit. The collapsed building was located at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, and the construction site was located at 2625 Bedford Avenue.
At the time of reporting, eight have been confirmed dead, and 19 have been injured, at least four of whom are in critical condition. Three firefighters were among the injured, and at least seven of the injured were children.
The collapsed building was next to another building which had been demolished. Excavation work was taking place when the collapse occurred.
New York City’s Department of Buildings recorded several problems with the adjacent construction site back in May, including working despite a stop-work order, failure to provide adequate overhead protection for neighboring properties, and failure to comply with approved construction drawings.
🇺🇸FDNY Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore: “We do not know how many people are still in the collapsed zone”
At the moment 19 are injured including 7 children.
The cause is still unknown.
Writer: Bri pic.twitter.com/HW27wkfJJc
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 12, 2026
New York’s Response.
Approximately 250 emergency responders were involved in the rescue operation. Using drones, excavators, and sniffer dogs, the New York City Fire Department continues its search for survivors beneath the rubble. The rescue operation is estimated to take three days.
“To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery; we are still in a search and rescue phase. We have moved into a general debris removal, and we are using grapplers to move big chunks of the debris so we can search beneath them,” said New York City Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore.
The local administration has announced an investigation into the collapsed building and the adjacent construction site.
“There are five main entities involved with this construction site or associated with approximately 100 other sites across the city. Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today,” said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a press briefing on Thursday.
Further Information.
A new stop-work order has been issued for the site, work permits have been suspended, and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is examining whether criminal conduct contributed to the collapse.
Vacate orders for 1323, 1325, and 1327 Flatbush Avenue have been issued, and the Flatbush area between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue remains closed.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has rerouted bus routes B41, B49, B103, B8, and BM2.
