The development site at 2625 Bedford Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, which is next to an apartment building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue that suffered a deadly collapse on Wednesday, had previously been hit with a stop-work order and a $10,000 fine, New York City Department of Building (DOB) records show.
The three-story mixed-use building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least eight people dead and 17 more injured as of Thursday morning.
While the official cause of the collapse has not yet been identified, the building had fallen into a hole left by the construction site next door at 2625 Bedford Avenue, which was acquired in 2024 for $4 million by Judy Swimer and Faigy Fischman through the entity JS1024 LLC and FF1632 LLC, according to property records. Robert Fischman is listed as the owner of the project in the most recent DOB records.
The developers filed plans in October to build a nine-story mixed-use building with 64 residential units on the Bedford Avenue site, according to the DOB. Swimmer and Fischman could not be reached for comment.
Demolition of the Bedford Avenue site began in September of last year, according to news site Clarin, while excavation began in September of this year. Inspectors had issued safety citations at the site in May 2026, one of which was for failing to ensure proper protections for nearby properties. A violation notice from the DOB in April also shows that the developers had proceeded with the demolition while under a stop-work order, as work had resumed after they paid a $10,000 fine.
There is currently a new stop-work order from the DOB on the property. At least two of the people who died Wednesday were construction workers on the Bedford Avenue project, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a Thursday press conference.
Mamdani said the DOB had identified “five different entities associated with the construction site” on Bedford Avenue, and that city officials would conduct investigations at “a hundred other sites across the city” that those entities are involved in, the New York Times reported. Mamdani added that construction on the project had continued despite a previous inspection report showing cracks in the north facade of the collapsed building, according to the outlet.
A full investigation into what exactly caused the collapse — which occurred around 4 p.m. on Wednesday — at the residential building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue is ongoing. The FDNY and other rescue workers are still digging through the rubble.
“The FDNY responded within one minute [of receiving the 911 call] and immediately started search and rescue operations,” Mamdani said on Wednesday evening during a press conference. “This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation.”
Heavy rains on Thursday and predicted into Friday have started to complicate the situation as rescuers continue their search efforts, according to CNN.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.
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