Excavation work at a construction site next to the Flatbush apartment building that collapsed Wednesday is being looked at as a possible cause of the disaster that killed eight people, including two children, and injured nearly 20 others, the New York Post reports.
The three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue caved into the neighboring lot while excavation was underway there. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ordered a review of about 100 properties across the city tied to "five entities" involved in the construction.
"If there is anyone, or any entity, operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable," Mamdani said at a press conference Thursday.
The Department of Buildings is also looking into an anonymous complaint filed a couple of hours after the collapse. It claimed a subcontractor at the next-door site at 2625 Bedford Avenue "may have excavated too much of the area along the neighboring foundation at once," and said, "I believe the collapse may have been preventable."
It was not the first red flag. Buildings inspectors issued a stop-work order at the construction site in March over a lack of overhead protection for neighboring buildings, and a DOB report that month said the north side of the Flatbush Avenue building was "in poor condition with noticeable cracks." In April the developers were fined $10,000 for going ahead with demolition despite the stop-work order. Work was allowed to resume in May after safety structures went up.
No cause has been officially determined, and no one has been charged.
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