An extremely tragic and very scary scene unfolded yesterday. On Wednesday evening a three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Ave came down into an open construction site at 2625 Bedford Ave. just after 4 p.m.
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Within the hour, a husband was pacing the street with nothing but a phone that wouldn’t ring back. “I’ve heard nothing. She’s inside the building. She’s pregnant,” he can be heard saying to an ABC News reporter who rushed to speak with him while distress. He gave no name, only the fear of a man whose whole world was under a pile of brick and dust.
After hours of waiting, he finally the news he’s been praying for. Just before 6:30 p.m., firefighters lifted a woman out of the rubble, laid her on a stretcher and covered her with a blanket. A CBS reporter showed the husband video of the rescue, and he confirmed it was his wife who is six months pregnant. Soon after, he stood in a crowd of cameras and told them, “I have an update. She is alive, she is still alive,” he said through tears. He then followed her stretcher to the ambulance, close behind.
As of Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said eight people were dead and at least 17 injured, including three firefighters. Seven children were among the injured, according to officials. ABC7 reported that four of the victims found Thursday are believed to be construction workers.
Crews worked in dangerous conditions, with a storm approaching and unstable debris and the risk of a second collapse forcing them to move with extreme caution. Mamdani called it “an incredibly challenging and fast moving situation.”
Flatbush is no small neighborhood in the culture. It is a central Brooklyn community home to one of the largest and most diverse Caribbean populations in the world.
Now the questions are already stacking up, and they should. Records show demolition and construction had been happening for months next to the 96-year-old building at 1321 Flatbush Ave. The Department of Buildings says the developer had an active permit for excavation and foundation work, and the agency has since issued a full stop-work order. Records also show one summons was issued in April for the Bedford Avenue site, and a stop-work order that was allegedly violated was later resolved. Plans for the lot called for a mixed-use building with retail space, medical services and residential apartments.
Officials haven’t named a cause. The Department of Buildings and law enforcement partners are leading the investigation, and the cause remains unknown.
For the moment, one family got a miracle on a night when many did not. Keep the survivors, the grieving families and the first responders in your prayers, and keep your eyes on the investigation, because Flatbush deserves real answers about how a building came down on a street full of people just living their lives.