Frustrations with rapid development and gentrification are boiling over in Flatbush after a residential building collapsed at a construction site Wednesday, killing six adults and two children.
City officials are still determining what caused a three-story Brooklyn building to fall onto an adjacent dig site Wednesday afternoon. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city was investigating and reviewing 100 other sites associated with construction companies working on the nearby pit.
But for Flatbush residents, the devastating incident at 1321 Flatbush Ave. sparks deep frustrations over the speed with which construction projects have sprung up in their neighborhood, in some cases displacing longtime residents of the Afro-Caribbean enclave. They say they hope the calamity will force developers to be more responsive and inclusive of the community.
“There was a new construction going up near my building, and all I thought about was, ‘That could have been us,’” Brandice Taylor said. “And that could be any of us in this neighborhood with the constant rezoning.”
City records show the developer of the property adjacent to the fallen building at 2625 Bedford Ave. had a history of taking shortcuts and ignoring city orders in the past.
Inspectors also cited the collapsed building’s owner, Olufemi Falade, for 98 open housing code violations for unsafe electrical wiring, inadequate water supply from the sprinkler system, lack of smoke detectors, water outages and bedbug infestation, among other issues, according to city data.
“If there is anyone or any entity operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable,” Mamdani said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. His office deferred to his comment when asked about residents’ concerns about construction projects in the area.
Former Mayor Adams pushed through a series of changes under the City of Yes plan that will see thousands of new homes built across the city. The plan aims to make it easier to convert empty offices into condos and allow developers to build larger buildings near metro stations.
Mamdani also advocated for accelerated development to alleviate high rents through increased housing supply. The rate of empty and rentable apartments in the city is shockingly low at 1.4%.
“It would be foolish to think that we can change a complex system like this without thinking that there would be unintended consequences,” said George Janes, a city planner.
He said it was still too early to know what happened and many questions remained unanswered. But he said the Flatbush and East Flatbush area has attracted a lot of development because zoning laws allow larger construction there.
“You can tear down what’s there and build a bigger building,” he said. “People say, ‘Okay, well, it’s relatively inexpensive to acquire and build a much larger building,’ and so that attracts a lot of development.
Flatbush resident Debbie Gbeyide, 45, said she sees so many new buildings going up, but she wonders, “Is it safe?”
“It’s worrying because you see a house, and the next minute you see a three-story building,” she said, as she looked out at the mass of firefighters and rescue workers Wednesday evening.
A block away from the ruined building there are old brownstones, but above them stands a new square building.
Monzurat Oni, president of Community Board 17, which includes the block where the building collapsed, said the developer of the construction site next to the collapsed building did not show up to answer questions from the public at a meeting in September.
“We have a housing shortage, I’m not against development, I’m not against old buildings,” she said. “There are concerns about their speed. There are concerns about their appearance in relation to the buildings they are next to and the character of the neighborhood, as well as the quality of construction.”
She said many residents living in neighborhoods where new construction is underway complain about their buildings shaking. Oni said he feels like Flatbush is growing at a faster rate than other parts of the city. She wants the city to ensure that new housing is added equitably throughout the city and remains affordable for neighborhood residents.
“We hope this is a wake-up call for the city to be careful for developers to stop and consider the lives that are affected,” said Addrana Montgomery, senior attorney at TakeRoot Justice, a nonprofit organization providing legal representation and policy research.
“There has to be a balance,” Montgomery said. “We really need to listen to the people who live there. What are they saying? And I don’t think that’s happening.”
David Brand and Liam Quigley contributed reporting.
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