New York City's Department of Buildings OK'd excavation at 2625 Bedford Ave. back in March, even though experts flagged serious risks to the next-door building at 1321 Flatbush Ave.
Sadly, those warnings were ignored: the Flatbush building collapsed on November 11, leaving eight people dead and nearly 20 injured.
Experts had pushed for extra foundation support before digging started, but the plans skipped this step and used a method that just wasn't right for sandy soil.
A longtime professor of architecture at the New York Institute of Technology called out this move as going against basic safety rules.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani orders citywide review
After the collapse, Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered a review of more than 100 other sites across the city linked to five entities involved in the construction:
over 100 locations across New York City are now under scrutiny.
The city is hoping this deep dive will help prevent another tragedy like this in the future.