1321 Flatbush Avenue

[1321 Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, Brooklyn c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

The arrow points to the building that collapsed this past Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring many more.

Gothamist reports that Robert Fischman, the developer overseeing the next-door excavation, had “had a record for cutting corners at the construction site.” The New York Times (gift link) reports that the developer won approval for a three-story building, but then planned for nine stories, and was thus “not subject to the more rigorous oversight required for larger projects.” And there are questions about whether the approved excavation plan was adequate to begin with (Gothamist ).

As for no. 1321, its landlord, Olufemi Falade, is reported to own twelve properties with 1,800 violations among them (New York Post ). His name has appeared six times in the last ten years on the city’s Worst Landlord list (NYC Public Advocate). In November 2026 no. 1321 had ninety-eight open violations and five overdue lead-paint violations.

There are no words for the indifference to safety and well-being at work on this and so many other city blocks.

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