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City suspends Bronx demolition contractor after building collapse, citing risks
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Jan 22, 2026
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By
Giulia Heyward
Published Jan 22, 2026
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The city is suspending a demolition contractor’s ability to work in New York City and halting construction at all sites he’s involved with after a partial building collapse in the Bronx earlier this month, officials said.
The Department of Buildings announced Thursday it is seeking to permanently revoke the construction permits of Yakov Eisenbach, a general contractor with Hexagon Industries Inc. Officials said an investigation revealed Eisenbach had a pattern of ignoring Stop Work Orders at multiple job sites across the five boroughs.
Emergency crews responded on Jan. 12 to a building collapse at 57 East Burnside Ave. A wall of the structure, which was undergoing demolition, gave way and fell onto the scaffolding and street below. No injuries were reported.
DOB records show a Full Stop Work Order was already in place at the site and inspectors had previously flagged the project for unsafe demolition and scaffolding without the proper permits or guardrails.
“His repeated violations, including the failure to comply with Department-issued Stop Work Orders and the continuation of unsafe work practices, leave the Department no choice but to act decisively,” DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said in a statement. “These reckless actions pose an imminent risk to public safety and require immediate disciplinary action.”
DOB attorneys have filed a case against Eisenbach at the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings in an effort to revoke his ability to obtain construction permits going forward.
According to the department, Eisenbach not only violated the existing Stop Work Order at the Bronx site, but also conducted demolition work out of sequence and contrary to approved plans. He was also found to be illegally using an excavator to accelerate the work, which had been approved for manual demolition only, officials said.
Construction can resume at Eisenbach’s current job sites only once property owners hire new contractors.
DOB officials said Eisenbach had already been under investigation by the department’s Licensee Disciplinary Unit and Buildings Special Investigations Unit for unsafe demolition operations elsewhere in the city.
The Bronx collapse was the seventh documented instance in which Eisenbach violated a Stop Work Order, according to the DOB.
That includes a Jan. 7 incident at 30-01 Northern Blvd. in Queens, where an excavator was used without DOB approval and required overhead protections weren’t in place. Other incidents cited by the department included:
- Sept. 29, 2025, at 986 Dahill Rd. in Brooklyn, where demolition was performed out of sequence and made the remaining structure unstable, officials said.
- Sept. 17, 2025, at 89-01 165th St. in Queens, where eight commercial buildings were demolished without permits, officials said.
- Aug. 13, 2025, at 1672 86th St. in Brooklyn, where unsafe demolition led to the evacuation of a neighboring building, according to the DOB.
- Dec. 23, 2024, at 121 Mount Hope Pl. in the Bronx, where falling debris struck a neighboring building, according to officials.
“Being careless with construction doesn’t just break the law — it puts lives at risk,” said City Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, who chairs the Council’s housing and buildings committee. "This is exactly what strong enforcement looks like: intervening before tragedy strikes to protect workers, residents, and our communities.”
Eisenbach did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tagged
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Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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