Contractor, landlord at site of deadly Brooklyn building collapse cited for numerous violations

Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News on Nov 12, 2026

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NEW YORK — A contractor involved in construction at the site of the deadly Brooklyn collapse had been cited by New York City for problems related to demolition at the Bedford Avenue location, including violating a stop-work order aimed at halting problematic work, city records reviewed by the Daily News show.

The records reviewed by the Daily News also show the man behind the ownership of the collapsed building, Olufemi Falade, was once imprisoned for ignoring housing violations at his properties. That building,1321 Flatbush Ave., which was adjacent to the construction site, had 98 open violations, including defective doors, unsafe electrical wiring, leaking ceilings, defective fire retardant material, and missing or malfunctioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

The cause of the collapse remains under investigation. The death toll in the tragedy now stands at eight, including an immigrant construction worker with a pregnant wife.

“A building does not simply collapse in the middle of a residential neighborhood without warning signs or systemic failures,’ City Council Member Farah Louis, who represents the portion of Flatbush where the fatal collapse took place, said Thursday. “I am demanding a full investigation of 2625 Bedford Avenue’s structural inspection records, active permits, open violations, and landlord maintenance history.”

“If negligence or ignored safety complaints contributed to this fatal collapse — where children, pregnant women, and elderly New Yorkers were put in harm’s way — those responsible must be held fully accountable under the law,” she said.

Demolition complaints

Records on file with the NYC Department of Buildings show that the construction site at 2625 Bedford Ave. had a history of demolition complaints.

In March, the contractor was assessed a $2,500 fine for commencing demolition of the one-story building on the site without installing proper overhead protection for the adjacent properties — though it was not clear from the records whether that included 1321 Flatbush, the building that collapsed.

A complaint sent to the DOB by an unknown person read “They are doing a demolition with out permit of the property,” adding, “Is not safe because not properly (equipped) and debry is flaying everywhere (sic).”

The DOB issued a stop-work order at the site to N Tech Design, requiring all demolition work to stop pending the installation of overhead protection. In April, the site was inspected again, but DOB inspectors found that the contractor had continued demolition work regardless of the stop-work order, and had “failed to comply with commissioners orders.”

By May, the contractors had finished demolition, DOB records show. The records note the contractors had “corrected” the “violating issue,” and paid their civil fine.

It is unclear if that demolition work at the site was assessed to have caused any damage to the surrounding buildings.

Permits on file with DOB show that excavation work on the building’s cellar — work that included explosive rock blasting — had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 10. It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of work was happening on site Wednesday during the lead up to the fatal collapse. A different contractor has applied for that permit.

Problematic landlord

City records on file with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development also reveal a history of problems linked the the building that collapsed.

Falade, the man running an LLC that owns the building, made headlines when he served 12 days in jail in 2006 for failing to address over 600 violations at three of his buildings. He forced tenants to live in what the city’s then-head of Housing Preservation Development called “inhuman conditions,” the Daily News reported at the time.

The three-story building at the center of Wednesday’s tragedy, 1321 Flatbush Ave., was not among those cited in the legal complaint against Falade in 2006 — those buildings were located at 1122 New York Ave., 543 Madison St. and 367 Tompkins Ave., and were owned under a different company than 1321 Flatbush, according to records reviewed by the Daily News. His company has owned the Flatbush building since 1999.

At the time, Falade was one of only a handful of New York City landlords to have been sentenced to jail time for neglecting the conditions of his tenants.

The building under construction next door had been approved by the as a three-story building at 2625 Bedford Ave., though Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said developers are seeking approval for a nine-story structure with a cellar on the site.

The Bedford Avenue property — which was previously home to a one-story commercial property — was purchased in 2024 by two Brooklyn women, Faigy Fischman and Judy Swimer, for $3.9 million, according to city and state records.

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