Death Toll Rises In NYC Collapse As Next-Door Site’s Safety Record Comes Under Fire

At least eight people are dead after a three-story building toppled into a construction pit in New York City, as of the latest update on Thursday.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the death toll Thursday morning after rescuers spent the night pulling bodies from the wreckage. The FDNY had reported only two deaths Wednesday evening.

Mamdani said at least 17 people were hurt, including three firefighters. Four people are in critical condition. Fire officials have put the number of injured as high as 19. Children were among the victims, but officials haven’t said whether any of them died.

The 911 call came in at 4:01 p.m. Wednesday, and firefighters arrived within a minute. Neighbors heard people under the debris crying for help while crews cut through twisted metal to reach them.

City records show the developers of the site were already penalized this year for skipping safety protections.

The building had a shop on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. It fell sideways into an excavation at 2625 Bedford Ave., where developers had permits to dig and lay a foundation for a new nine-story building.

In March, Department of Buildings inspectors ordered work stopped after finding that the old building there had been torn down without protecting the neighbors. About a month later, inspectors caught crews still demolishing despite the order; the contractor was fined $10,000. The order was lifted in May once the developers fixed the violations.

All work at the site has stopped again, and the permits have been suspended, and law enforcement is investigating.

Dan Eschenasy, the city’s former chief structural engineer, told CNN the construction next door was the likely cause of the collapse. He said knocking down the neighboring building effectively made the old frame structure a corner building, adding that corner buildings with storefronts at street level are “extremely fragile.” He said that soil shifting as little as half an inch during digging can start a collapse.

City Councilwoman Farah Louis called for a full investigation of the building’s safety record. She said buildings don’t come down without warning signs.

At a nearby church where families waited for news, a woman collapsed in grief when she learned her husband’s body had been found. Outside, a father prayed for word of his son, a construction worker no one has heard from since the collapse.

The search went on Thursday with excavators, search dogs, drones and over 250 fire and EMS workers, who were racing a storm moving in. Water was shut off to about 100 nearby buildings so crews could keep digging.

Officials still don’t know how many people may be trapped.