Flatbush Ave in Flatbush, New York, stood still and in shock after a three-storey apartment building collapsed on Wednesday afternoon near a construction site.
“The last time I saw something like this was when I went to work at 9/11,” Prudence Foster said.
Foster, a retired utility worker with ConEdison, has lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood most of her life and now lives on 19th Street – about a 20-minute drive from the wreckage. She heard helicopters on her way home on Wednesday and received a call from a friend about the building’s destruction.
“I was glad the building didn’t blow up because of the gas lines,” Foster said. “Who is going to be held accountable for the loss of lives?”
Foster’s biggest concern is the residents left in the three buildings still standing and previously connected to the one that collapsed. Officials have also ordered the evacuation of all residents in those buildings during their investigation. Foster said the city should consider taking those buildings down before they also collapse.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor, addressed some of Foster’s, and others’, concerns in a press conference Thursday. He confirmed officials are working with the department of buildings to investigate 100 other sites in New York City with connections to the building that gave way.
“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.
New York officials have confirmed at least eight fatalities – six adults and two children – in the collapse. At least 18 other people have sustained non-fatal but serious injuries.
As of Thursday morning, the New York City police department rerouted several buses and blocked off Flatbush Avenue along Bedford Avenue and Clarendon Road to make space for responders and firefighters to continue their search for victims. Media teams, residents and employees at the small businesses from along the street all congregated on the sidewalk trying to get a view of the rubble.
“The city has come together to stand alongside those who are experiencing this hardship,” Mamdani said.
The American Red Cross set up a supply center at the Flatbush YMCA down the street from the collapse, providing temporary housing, social services and mental health support.
Brooklyn native James Williams works in the Chelsea Deli Grocery that sits directly across the street from the wreckage. He saw the apartment complex come down Wednesday after hearing hours of loud banging from the construction.
From about 7am to 4pm, Williams said he heard noises that “sounded like a big gunshot”, from the construction site. He told reporters on Thursday that he was familiar with the workers since they came into the deli often for lunch.
“There were people trying to get out,” he said, coming close to tears. “I don’t even really want to think about that. I couldn’t even go over there to even help anybody.”
At about 4pm, Williams recalled smelling metal fumes and seeing bricks falling from the building. He watched the apartment building sink about two minutes afterward.
Ahmed Tigani, the department of buildings commissioner, said during the press conference that no violations or complaints in the area were reported in the building or the nearby construction but examinations will continue.
“If there is anyone or any entity operating in this cart that is responsible what happened, we will hold them fully accountable,” he said.
Staff at Cyrus Medical Group, which sits right across the street from the rubble, were checking surveillance cameras Thursday morning to see if any of their patients were involved in the building’s destruction.
“We don’t know anything yet,” said Winsome Rogers, a New York-based family nurse practitioner and healthcare professional.
Rogers has been at Cyrus Medical Group for less than a year, but said the area was usually calm.She heard about he collapse on the news as she was working at another site on Wednesday. She expressed concern about the unhealthy air and dust coming from the wreckage that might be endangering the lives of firefighters and others near it.
“It’s a possibility,” Rogers said. “I hope whoever’s in the rubble is wearing masks.”
Wis Santilous, who works at a nearby homeless shelter, said he hoped nobody at his shelter was involved.
“I saw it on social media and I was like: ‘Let me come down here and see what’s going on,’” he said. “Everybody just wants everybody to just be alright. Who knows how many people could’ve just passed away in front of us?”
