NYCOSH: Flatbush Collapse Demands Full Accountability

NEW YORK — The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) released the following statement from Executive Director Charlene Obernauer on the Flatbush building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn:

“We mourn all of the lives lost during this tragedy. We stand with their families, those injured and everyone whose home or livelihood was destroyed. We thank the first responders who risked their own lives and were injured themselves while searching for survivors and bringing people to safety.”

Investigators have not definitively determined what caused this collapse, but the public record already raises serious concerns. This spring, the city ordered all demolition stopped on the lot next door, because the contractor had not installed the protection that its own approved plans required for the neighboring buildings. When inspectors came back, the building had been torn down anyway. The stop-work order was lifted not because the neighbors were protected, but because the demolition was finished and the fines were paid. Months later, while crews were excavating that same lot, the building next door collapsed and destroyed the lives of so many in our communities.

“When a company can ignore a stop-work order, pay a fine, and keep going, penalties become a cost of doing business and workers and community members suffer,” Obernauer said.

As the Brooklyn District Attorney, Department of Buildings, law enforcement and other agencies conduct investigations, we hope that every responsible party is held accountable: owners, developers and contractors alike. Nothing will bring back the precious lives that were lost.