On a Wednesday in Brooklyn, a building that stood among its neighbors gave way, its walls splitting while a mother and her sons were inside, and the tremor of that failure reached a family, a city, and a set of records that now must be read closely. The collapse took lives, including children, and injured many more, and it happened beside a construction site whose contractor had once been told to stop working and had kept going. What brought the structure down has not yet been established; that question now passes into the hands of prosecutors and council members who must weigh the neighboring
Brooklyn Collapse Family Seeks Answers as DA Opens Criminal Probe Into Adjacent Construction Site
Multiple people died, ranging in age from 9 to 31 including two children, and 18 others were injured; Joanna Velez and 9-year-old Pablo Alvarez remain hospitalized.
The building had no reason to fall on its own.
Mark
Why does the stop-work order matter so much here?
Mimi
Because it's a documented warning. The contractor next door was told to stop demolishing, kept going, and got a violation in April. In May the violation was addressed and the order lifted.
Mark
And the collapsed building itself?
Mimi
It had 98 open violations from the Department of Buildings. That's the number Council member Farah Louis pointed to when she said buildings don't collapse without systemic failures.
Luke
But let's be careful. Those facts sit side by side in the record. Nothing in this reporting says either one caused the collapse.
Mark
What does the family believe?
Mimi
Anderson Velez believes the construction next door led to it. He says the building had no reason to fall on its own. His wife and 9-year-old son are still hospitalized.
Luke
That's his belief, and an understandable one, but it's not a finding. The cause is still open, and the criminal investigation is just beginning.
Mark
Is there anything about the contractor we should weigh?
Mimi
Townhouse Builders has been sued at least 67 times since 2012, according to court records CBS reviewed.
Luke
Lawsuits are allegations. The count tells us about litigation volume, not about what happened Wednesday. And the building owner hasn't responded yet, so one side is missing.
Il Polso
- A third-floor apartment wall split open and collapsed on a family, and the failure was captured on video from inside the home.
- The collapsed building carried 98 open violations, while the neighboring contractor had been ordered to halt demolition and was cited for ignoring that order.
- A criminal investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is now probing whether the neighboring construction or systemic regulatory lapses caused the collapse.
- The contractor, Townhouse Builders, has faced at least 67 lawsuits since 2012, and the stop-work order was lifted in May, leaving the city's oversight under sharp scrutiny as the families of the dead and injured wait for answers.
On a Wednesday in Brooklyn, a building that stood among its neighbors gave way, its walls splitting while a mother and her sons were inside, and the tremor of that failure reached a family, a city, and a set of records that now must be read closely. The collapse took lives, including children, and injured many more, and it happened beside a construction site whose contractor had once been told to stop working and had kept going. What brought the structure down has not yet been established; that question now passes into the hands of prosecutors and council members who must weigh the neighboring excavation against a longer history of neglect. In a city where buildings are meant to hold together, this is a reminder of how fragile that promise can be when oversight and construction collide.
On Wednesday, a third-floor apartment in Brooklyn broke apart while a mother and her two sons were inside. Video from within the apartment, and surveillance footage of the building and its storefront falling, show how quickly the structure gave way. The collapse killed multiple people, ranging in age from 9 to 31, including two children, and injured 18 others. The multi-use building tumbled into an adjacent construction site and tore the side off another building as it fell.
Anderson Velez was not home when it happened. When he heard the news, his first fear was that his children had died. His wife, Joanna, remains in the hospital, as does their 9-year-old son, Pablo, who is recovering from surgery for a severe head injury. Their 2-year-old, Joseph, survived with barely a scratch. Velez believes the construction next door brought the building down, since he knows of no reason it would have fallen on its own. Each time he watches the video, tears come to his eyes.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office has opened a criminal investigation, and the public record offers early leads. The collapsed building had 98 open violations from the Department of Buildings. Earlier this year, the department had ordered the neighboring contractor to stop demolition, but the work continued, and a violation followed in April. The stop-work order was lifted in May. The contractor, Townhouse Builders, has been sued at least 67 times since 2012.
At a Friday news conference, City Council member Farah Louis argued that buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failures, pointing to a nearly 100-violation building beside a site cited for defying a stop-work order. The owner of the collapsed building has not responded to CBS News's requests for comment, and the cause remains unestablished. The investigation and council scrutiny will determine whether the answer lies next door, in regulatory failure, or in both.
On Wednesday, the walls of a third-floor apartment in Brooklyn split open and came down while a mother and her sons were inside. Video obtained by CBS News shows the moment from within the apartment, with the family visible as the building failed. Separate surveillance footage captured the apartment building and its storefront crashing down.
The family is Anderson Velez's. He was not home when it happened. When he heard about the collapse, he told CBS News, his fear was that his children had lost their lives. His wife, Joanna Velez, remains hospitalized. So does their 9-year-old son, Pablo Alvarez, who is recovering from surgery for a severe head injury. Their 2-year-old, Joseph Alvarez, survived with barely a scratch.
The collapse killed multiple people, ranging in age from 9 to 31, including two children. Another 18 people were injured. The multi-use building fell into an adjacent construction site and, as it went, tore off the side of another building.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office has now opened a criminal investigation. The public record the city holds on the two sites gives investigators places to start. The collapsed building had 98 open violations from the New York City Department of Buildings. That same agency had earlier this year ordered a contractor to stop demolition work at the neighboring construction site. The contractor kept demolishing despite the order, and the department issued a violation in April. In May, the department said, that violation was addressed and the stop-work order was lifted.
The contractor is Townhouse Builders. Court records reviewed by CBS News show it has been sued at least 67 times since 2012.
At a news conference on Friday, City Council member Farah Louis said buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failures. She pointed to records showing a building with nearly 100 open violations next to an excavation site that had been cited for violating a stop-work order.
Anderson Velez believes the construction next door brought the building down. He said the building had no reason to fall on its own. Asked what he feels when he watches the video, he said he still watches it and tears come to his eyes.
CBS News reached out to the owner of the collapsed building for comment and had not heard back. What caused the collapse has not been established. The district attorney's investigation, along with the scrutiny from the City Council, will bear on whether the answer lies in construction practices next door, in regulatory failures, or in both.
Citazioni salienti
Buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failures.— Farah Louis, New York City Council member
The building had no reason to fall on its own.— Anderson Velez
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