Building in Brooklyn, N.Y. Being Demolished After Partial Collapse

Three-story building partial collapse Carroll Garden

The NYC Dept. of Buildings noted a masonry brick wall "dangerously bulging over public sidewalk" in the month prior to the partial collapse of the three-story building.

Photo courtesy of New York City Fire Department

A three-story building in Brooklyn, N.Y., is being demolished following a partial collapse that occurred Wednesday afternoon around 4:40 p.m. The building, at 348 Court Street in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood, was the location of a Body Elite Gym, closed at the time because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One person was reported to be in the building at the time of the collapse, but was able to get out with only minor injuries, said Lillian Bonsignore, chief of EMS operations. The FDNY searched the site and confirmed no one else had been in the building, said Thomas Richardson, its chief of fire operations.

The building, owned by Union & Court Realty Corp., had been cited by the New York City Dept. of Buildings for numerous violations. The most recent complaint, from June 10, involved workers removing cement stucco from an exterior wall, resulting in a "20-ft by 15-ft masonry brick wall dangerously bulging over public sidewalk,” according to the citation, under which a partial stop work order was issued.

The DOB further requested the owner "to provide sidewalk protection and an engineering report immediately."

“We do know that there were some issues with the facade. There was a bulge in the exterior wall, and that was one of the things they got a stop work order [for] because of the way they were performing the work,” said Timothy Hogan, deputy commissioner of enforcement for DOB, in news reports.