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Developer at Brooklyn collapse site had record of flouting orders from city agency
By
David Brand
Published Nov 12, 2026
Modified Nov 12, 2026 at 12:54 p.m. ET
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Catalina Gonella / Gothamist
By
David Brand
Published Nov 12, 2026
Modified Nov 12, 2026 at 12:54 p.m. ET
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The developer of the property adjacent to the fatal Brooklyn building collapse had a record for cutting corners at the construction site, according to records from the city buildings department.
Those documents show that owner Robert Fischman sent a letter to neighboring landlords in June of this year to inform them of an upcoming disturbance: his company would begin excavating the empty lot at 2625 Bedford Ave. to make way for a new apartment building. It was one of many similar projects set to rise in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
Timeline of the fatal Brooklyn building collapse
Wednesday, Nov. 11
4 p.m. — Three-story residential building located at 1321 Flatbush Avenue collapses. Kat Stevens, a teacher who lives down the block, said she was home, doing her laundry when she heard what sounded almost like a car crash.
4:30 p.m. — FDNY confirms collapse on social media. Images show neighboring building with its side shorn off.
6:20 p.m. FDNY reports that “major technical operation” is underway.
8 p.m. — Mayor Mamdani holds a press conference at the scene of the building collapse.
Thursday, Nov. 12
6 to 8 a.m. — FDNY says rescue and recovery operations are still underway. Mayor Mamdani announces on social media that at least eight people are dead.
Families spent the night at the scene, waiting for word of their loved ones. On Thursday morning, one woman collapsed to the ground after learning her husband was among the dead. “My husband, he died,” she yelled in Spanish.
10 a.m. — FDNY confirms eight people died, four are in critical condition at local hospitals, five have serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, and 10 people have minor injuries.
11 a.m. — A demolition excavator worked through the rubble, piling the debris on one end of the site. A mattress, a refrigerator and wood floor panels were among the items in the pile. Bricks and clothing were scattered across the site, along with dozens of records.
Five months later, the excavation site was the scene of a fatal disaster, after one of the apartment buildings next door at 1321 Flatbush Ave. crumbled into the dirt pit below. At least eight people have been pronounced dead as a result of the collapse and many more were injured, including multiple children on a day that public school students had off for the Veterans Day holiday. Rescue workers were still digging through the rubble Thursday morning for survivors.
The letter Fischman sent neighboring landlords lists the same phone number as his company, Berkoff Supply, an industrial hardware store in Brooklyn. A person who answered the phone at a number listed for Fischman hung up when contacted late Wednesday. An employee answered the phone at Berkoff Supply on Thursday but said Fischman was not available.
By the time Fischman had sent the excavation notice, the project team had already ignored commands from the Department of Buildings, according to records from the city buildings department.
The agency had previously issued the stop work order at the lot during demolition of an existing one-story building in March after determining that contractors had failed to install required safety precautions, including netting and sheds, said Department of Buildings spokesperson Andrew Rudansky. A month later, a buildings inspector found the owners had continued demolition work in violation of the order and issued another penalty.
At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the Brooklyn District Attorney's office is involved in investigating the collapse and that building inspectors had been dispatched across the five boroughs to check other related construction sites.
"A tragedy of this magnitude demands a comprehensive and thorough investigation. That includes both the construction site and the building that collapsed, that has already began with the Department of Buildings and law enforcement leading it," Mamdani said. "There are five main entities involved with this construction site who are associated with approximately 100 other sites across the city. Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today."
Construction workers had been digging in the empty lot Wednesday before the adjacent structure collapsed, Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said at a press conference late Wednesday.
A copy of the letter Robert Fischman sent to the owner of 1321 Flatbush Ave. in June informing him that excavation work would begin on the lot next door.
Department of Buildings
The lot is owned by a limited liability company tied to Fischman and Judy Swimer, according to property records. Swimer did not respond to a phone message. Architectural drawings filed in December last year reveal plans for a three-story complex on what was once a single-story commercial building. The developer later submitted new plans for a nine-story structure in September. Tigani said the buildings department had yet to approve those new plans. A permit was in place for the excavation work.
Structural plans filed by engineer Jeiming Wang of the firm LMW Engineering Group call for extensive excavation and bracing work to prevent neighboring buildings from collapsing, including steel, timber and concrete shoring. They also require the excavation contractor to use seismic monitors to track vibration and install crack gauges on surrounding buildings to monitor movements. Visual inspections were required, along with various oversight and reporting requirements under the supervision of a special inspector.
It’s unclear whether these precautions were taken. The Department of Buildings said it is still investigating what caused the collapse. Wang and the special inspector, MD Islam of Queens-based RI Consulting Services, did not respond to calls and emails on Wednesday.
The company Townhouse Builders was contracted to carry out the shoring work, according to a building permit issued to its owner, Mordchai Waisbrod, in September. Neither he nor the company responded to requests for comment.
Drawings filed with the Department of Buildings show the shoring that was supposed to be installed during excavation work at the Flatbush, Brooklyn building site to prevent the neighboring structure from collapsing.
Department of Buildings
Other problems plagued the three-story apartment at 1321 Flatbush Ave., which is owned by a separate landlord, prior to Wednesday's disaster.
City records show inspectors documented a raft of hazards and that the owner Olufemi Falade had a long track record of deplorable building conditions. A judge sent Falade, to jail for 12 days in 2006 for violations at a different building, including vermin and exposed wiring.
Before its collapse, the building had 98 open housing code violations for unsafe electrical wiring, inadequate water supply to the sprinkler system, a lack of smoke detectors, water outages and a bed bug infestation among other problems, according to city data.
The property has cycled through the city’s tax lien sale process at least five times since 2017, due to its unpaid municipal debts, according to court and city property records.
Falade did not respond to a phone message.
This story has been updated with comments from Mayor Mamdani.
Tagged
brooklyn
housing
new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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