A three-story building partly collapsed in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn just after 4 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and New York City firefighters began what the Fire Department called a major technical rescue to reach people reported trapped. At least one person died and at least four were hurt, at least one critically, the FDNY said.

The collapse happened on Bedford Avenue between Newkirk and Flatbush avenues, where a construction site sits at 2625 Bedford Ave. Police told people to avoid the area and to expect road closures and traffic delays. Officials had not given a cause as of early Wednesday evening.

The rescue on Bedford Avenue

The side of a red New York City Fire Department Collapse Rescue 1 truck parked on a city street
An FDNY Collapse Rescue 1 truck, one of the department's specialized rescue units, in Manhattan in 2024.Kidfly182 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

Several of the injured were taken to Kings County Hospital. Counts of the injured rose as the afternoon went on, and officials had not given a full tally by early evening. Inspectors from the city's Department of Buildings went to the scene.

What city records show at the site

An urban excavation pit lined with steel piles and wooden boards between older brick buildings, with a small excavator at the bottom
Image: Edit USA

The lot at 2625 Bedford Ave. is being prepared for a new building. Department of Buildings filings in the city's public job filing data show a January 2026 application for a nine-story mixed-use building with a cellar, filed for the owner, W6 Facility X LLC. Separate filings for the foundation and for support of excavation, the shoring that holds back soil and neighboring structures while a lot is dug out, have permits that were last updated Sept. 9. The main new-building application was still listed with open objections from the department.

The lot was cleared earlier this year. A city violation record shows that on April 23, a Buildings Department inspector cited the demolition contractor, N Tech Design of America, for continuing work while a stop-work order was in effect. The inspector compared photos with ones taken March 20, when a one-story building was still standing on the lot. The violation was Class 1, the most serious category, with a $10,000 penalty, and the record shows the contractor admitted it. It is listed as resolved.

The records do not explain Wednesday's collapse, and officials have not tied it to the work at the site.