November 12, 2026Updated November 13, 2026, 11:16 a.m. ET
The cause of the collapse of a three-story building in Brooklyn remains unclear, but permits, complaints and public records provide insight into the building’s troubled past as the investigation unfolds into its deadly destruction.
Two children and six adults, including two construction workers, died in the tragedy. Eighteen people – 14 civilians and four firefighters – were injured in the collapse at 1321 Flatbush Ave. in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
A building evacuation order from the New York City Department of Buildings stated that the collapse was due to “unsafe construction operations on the adjacent property, 2625 Bedford Avenue.” But by Thursday afternoon, the department’s website no longer contained that language. USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Buildings for comment on the update.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said an investigation into the construction site and collapsed building had begun. He added that the Department of Buildings had identified five entities associated with the project.
“These five entities are associated with 100 other sites across the city,” he said. “The Department of Buildings is starting to sweep these sites to make sure that if there is anything that New Yorkers need to be concerned about, we are there and we are doing something.” Anil Kumar Y. Agrawal, a civil engineer and professor at the City College of New York, said “all the factors were there” for a collapse.
“It’s engineering, and if you do it carefully, you can avoid accidents,” he said. In this case, he said, “something went wrong at the most basic level.”
“This collapse absolutely should not have happened.”
USA TODAY contacted the city Department of Buildings, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, a construction company whose work is tied to a neighboring property and the owner of the collapsed property.
The collapsed building had cracks on the facade
A report filed in March with the city Department of Buildings described the north facade of the collapsed building as being “in poor condition with visible cracks identified.”
Reports documenting pre-existing damage are often intended to protect developers from allegations that they caused new damage to neighboring structures, according to Glenn Corbett, a former member of the federal advisory committee for the National Construction Safety Team.
Although cracks are not uncommon in old buildings like the one that collapsed, the problems documented in the report probably should have triggered a more thorough investigation, said Corbett, now an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“It should have made someone go back there and ask, ‘Why is this wall cracked, and if I start digging 25 feet away, how is that going to affect this?'” he said.
Corbett, who said he followed news of the collapse closely, said he believed something was wrong with the shoring system and caused soil from adjacent properties to flow into the excavation pit. That could have pushed the shoring at a 45-degree angle and destabilized the neighboring building, he said.
What could have caused the potential failure of the armor requires further and independent investigation, he said.
The fallen structure had a history of violations
The 96-year-old three-story building that collapsed in Brooklyn on Nov. 11 had a long history of dangerous violations, according to city records.
Department of Housing Preservation and Development records list 98 violations dating back to 1972. Twenty-one are Class C or “immediately dangerous” violations for problems such as peeling lead paint, a leaking roof and unsafe electrical wiring.
In recent years, the building has been repeatedly ordered to provide an adequate water supply for the sprinkler and/or hydrant system as well as to repair, replace or provide a smoke detector. “A fire barrier must be provided immediately due to the requirement of the observed hazardous fire hazard conditions,” a 2024 violation description states.
The building is owned by Isolag Realty Group, according to a stop work order posted on the city Department of Buildings website. Olufemi Falade is listed in a state database as a registered agent for that company and as the general manager, managing agent and shareholder of Femi Realty Corp, the former owner of the property, on the HPD website.
Falade was sentenced to prison in 2006 after failing to address housing violations in some of his buildings, The New York Times reported. The New York Daily News reported that Falade was sentenced to 12 days in jail and fined $50,000 for failing to correct more than 600 violations.
“The city will not tolerate residents living in inhumane conditions,” Shaun Donovan, then head of Housing Preservation Development, said at a news conference at the time, according to the New York Daily News. USA TODAY has reached out to HPD, DOB and a number of people listed for Falade for comment.
What was built next to the collapsed building?
The developers had “an approved plan for a three-story building” and were doing excavation work on the site, Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of the city’s Department of Buildings, said at the Nov. 11 news conference. Developers sought to build a nine-story mixed-use building with a grocery store on the first floor and residential housing on the upper floors, according to a proposal posted on the city’s zoning website. Tigani said those plans had not been approved.
N Tech Design of America, a construction company, demolished a one-story building at the site despite a stop-work order issued in March, according to a summons issued by the city in April.
In June, certified letters were sent to adjacent properties informing them that excavations would begin within 30 days, including to the owner of the Flatbush property. He said every precaution would be taken to protect the property.
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