NEW YORK — The residents who used to live 1321 to 1327 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn had grown used to constant banging and slamming that shook their buildings, from dawn to evening, as developers dug up an adjoining lot.
Ciahola Lawrence described the vibrations as a “thump and movement” that you heard “in your soul.”
But on Wednesday afternoon, as the grinding from the excavation equipment continued, Lawrence dozed off for a nap on her day off.
Then one especially loud cracking sound shook her awake.
“When I opened my eyes, there was light everywhere,” a tearful Lawrence said Friday during a news conference. “So, I got up and I couldn’t believe I was seeing outside.”
With the side of her apartment torn away, Lawrence looked through the opening at a pile of rubble. She could see some of her neighbors, apparently deceased, below.
“What is happening,” Lawrence shrieked. “We didn’t bother these people. They killed us.”
Lawrence’s emotions reflected the grief and anger of a community mourning eight neighbors killed when their apartment building collapsed. Officials suspect that the excavation project, which was being undertaken to construct an apartment building, triggered the collapse.
The tragedy, which has displaced Lawrence and dozens of other residents who lived in adjoining apartments, is renewing calls for stricter enforcement of building codes in New York City. It is also uniting a cross-section of New Yorkers grieving the dead, most of whom were recent immigrants to the U.S.
“Our community has been living through a nightmare,” said New York City Councilwoman Farah Louis (D), who represents the area. “Grief without accountability is not enough. Buildings simply do not collapse without systemic failures.”
Those killed include a 31-year-old man from Colombia as well as his 9-year-old daughter and another 10-year-old relative, also of Colombian descent. A relative from Spain told Gothamist, a local New York news outlet, the family had been mostly staying in their home in recent weeks because they feared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Two others killed were immigrants from Guinea, relatives said Wednesday.
Mamadou Saliou Diallo, president of the Guinean Community of America-New York, said the community is now asking President Donald Trump and federal officials to grant the parents of the men visas so they can travel from Guinea to the United States to attend their funerals.
“We call on our elected representative and appropriate authorities to ensure that this tragic incident receives the necessary attention and that its circumstances are thoroughly investigated,” Diallo said.
Two of those killed were also construction workers from Ecuador who had been working in the pit.
Winston Sanchez, a representative for the men, said the wife of one of the men is due to give birth on Sunday.
“It’s a sad day because it not only collapsed a building, it collapsed the lives of many relatives, brothers, fathers,” Sanchez said. “We are here today not only in solidarity but also demanding … that the city do more to protect our workers and protect our people regardless of their immigration status.”
Despite the grief, there was some relief over those who were rescued from the collapsed building.
On Wednesday evening, Mamadou Mouctar Balde made an impassioned plea in front of television news cameras for information on his pregnant wife, who had been pulled from the rubble by New York City firefighters.
On Friday, Balde, speaking in French, told reporters his wife remained in serious condition at a hospital, but she and her unborn child were expected to survive.
“To the firefighters, thank you,” Balde said.
The three-story apartment building that collapsed is owned by Isolag Realty Corp., with Olufemi Falade listed as its registered agent, according to city property records.
The same records show Falade owns multiple properties throughout Brooklyn that, like the property that collapsed, have unresolved city building-code violations dating back several years.
Robert Fischman owned the lot where construction was taking place, records show. The construction site had been fined $10,000 for failing to abide by a stop-work order from the Department of Buildings in April. The fine was paid in October, and the excavation work to construct the building’s cellar started on Sept. 10.
Neither property owner has returned phone calls from The Washington Post seeking comment.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said Friday that both her office and Brooklyn County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez are scrutinizing the circumstances that led to the collapse.
“I have faith that investigators will follow the facts and anyone held responsible will be held to account,” James said.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D) also vowed Friday that the city will increase its spending on building inspectors. She noted that the Department of Buildings has a 9 percent staff vacancy rate.
A spokesman for the Department of Buildings said the agency is hiring an outside engineering firm to assist in its investigation of the building collapse. The agency is also investigating more than 160 other building sites that had been using the same contractors that were working next to the collapsed building.
“This is an unspeakable horrendous tragedy, and we must meet this moment,” Menin said.
But the increased focus on building safety has come too late for Zariah Coleman.
Coleman was not home when the building collapsed but has had to vacate her own apartment. She has since been unable to find her cat.
“Before all of the happened, we used to feel shakes in our building,” Coleman said, through tears. “We used to feel the shakes when they were working. … Now, I just really want them to come and get our cat.”
Violet Jira and Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
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