FULL: Mamdani update on Brooklyn building collapse

New Yorkers who were hospitalized as a result of yesterday's building collapse. This has been a devastating evening and morning for our city. Eight of our fellow New Yorkers, six adults and two children, have died as a result of the three-story building collapse here at 1321 Flatbush Avenue. Six of those New Yorkers passed away on the scene. Two others died at nearby hospitals. As of now, we have confirmed that two of those who died were construction workers at 2625 Bedford Avenue. Eighteen other people were injured from the collapse, 14 civilians and four firefighters. The vast majority of those still being treated in hospitals are in stable condition. One person is in critical condition. Before I provide further information, I want to take a moment to remember those we have so senselessly lost. These were our friends and our neighbors, parents and children, young families building their lives in our city and immigrants from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and beyond. Let us continue to hold close those who have been plunged into unimaginable grief and pray for a full and rapid recovery for every New Yorker injured. I want to thank all those who did not hesitate to help. Those who ran towards danger when this building collapsed and in the hours afterwards. Construction workers who had only barely survived themselves turned back and dug victims out of the rubble. People are alive today because of their heroism yesterday. Firefighters arrived on the scene in less than one minute after the 911 call first came in. Two hundred and fifty firefighters and EMS personnel worked tirelessly throughout the evening, the morning, and are continuing now, searching for survivors, rescuing people from the rubble, and tending to the injured. Just because we expect this courage from the FDNY does not make it any less extraordinary. And I want to thank those who selflessly responded from afar, including the New Rochelle Fire Department, who volunteered their services overnight and only just returned home this morning. And as always occurs in a moment of tragedy, the city has come together to stand alongside those who are enduring this hardship. New Yorkers dropped off supplies, and the Red Cross immediately opened a reception center for impacted and displaced residents at the Flatbush YMCA at 1401 Flatbush Avenue. The city and the Red Cross are continuing to provide expanded services from the YMCA, including temporary housing for displaced residents, assistance with social services, and mental health support. This response has included agencies across the whole of government. Agencies on site include the FDNY, NYPD, NYSEM, DEP, DSNY, OCME, DOB, HBD, New York State Dishes, as well as our partners from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Conditions will grow more challenging today with the rain, but operations will continue. As I said yesterday evening, a tragedy of this magnitude demands a comprehensive and thorough investigation that includes both the construction site and the building which collapsed. That has already begun, with the Department of Buildings and Law Enforcement leading it. We will find out what happened, and we will share that information with New Yorkers. There are five main entities involved with this construction site who are associated with approximately 100 other sites across the city. Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today. As we search for survivors and clear the scene, there will be a continued impact on nearby residents. Vacate orders are in place on 1323, 1325, and 1327 Flatbush Avenues. Residents of other buildings further south on Flatbush Avenue who were temporarily displaced have been allowed to reoccupy their homes. The MTA has diverted the following bus routes, B41, B49, B103, B8, and BM2. Flatbush Avenue remains closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue. Please avoid the area so that emergency crews can continue their work. If you are unable to reach someone you believe may have been affected by the collapse, please call 311. If you are outside New York City, please call 212-639-9675. Again, that's 212-639-9675. This has been... A very dark evening and morning for our city. We are mourning too many people who we loved. And as we grieve and as we rebuild, we will do so together as one city. Thank you, and I will now pass it over to our fire commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As you all know, yesterday evening we had a major technical response here after a three-story multiple dwelling collapsed into an adjacent construction site. Overnight our members recovered Four deceased victims, bringing the total to six dead here on the scene. Two more of those victims succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Our firefighters and EMS members have been on the scene since 4 p.m. yesterday. We have been rotating them through, working diligently and methodically throughout the night. They have been digging through the debris and searching for any survivors. Our firefighters and rescue medics worked hand in hand in that pit finding people, freeing them from the rubble, starting life-saving medical care right away, and transferring the patients to an awaiting EMS unit for continued medical treatment and transport to an emergency room. The work done here over the last 20 hours has been incredibly heroic. We see that we are in the middle of a rainstorm, but that will not stop our operations here. It will definitely hinder our efforts, but this type of an emergency is something our members train extensively for, and we will be here until we are 100% sure there are no more people trapped. To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery. We are still in the search and rescue phase. We have moved into a general debris removal, and we are using grapplers to move big chunks of the debris so we can search beneath them. We have also activated our incident management team, which is a specialized unit that helps manage large-scale emergencies throughout the country. The IMT was organized by the FDNY in a direct response to September 11th to help us manage prolonged responses. They will be on scene throughout the entire operation to maintain the efforts here. We greatly appreciate and support the collaboration we have had with all the other agencies involved in this particular incident. This is a devastating tragedy for New York and our prayers are with those who are recovering in the hospital and those who have died. The FDNY mourns with those families and we promise with everything we have, we will not stop working until everyone is rescued or recovered. Yes. Yes. Yes. So on the first question, it is still too early to declare that. What I will say is the partnership from the district attorney as well as across city government is to explore every possible eventuality of what the investigation will yield. To your second question. Good question. The Department of Buildings has identified five different entities associated with the construction site. Those five entities are associated with a hundred other sites across the city. The Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites to ensure that if there is anything New Yorkers need to be worried about, that we are on the scene and we are doing something about it. We're lucky in New York City to have the greatest fire department the world has ever seen. And so as long as the fire department determines something is a rescue operation, I have full belief that they are exploring every possible outcome of that. I don't know if you want to add anything. We always assume that there are more people there until we can access the ground. So until we've removed some of the bigger debris and are able to search beneath them, this will remain a rescue operation. And I'll just I just want to add one more thing, which is that when I was in the hospital meeting with these families who have been devastated by this collapse, one of the family members pulled me aside and told me how much she appreciated the work of the FDNY, that they were there within one minute of the 911 call coming in, that four firefighters are in the hospital as a result of injuries they face because of their work. That they were running towards danger so that these family members might have another shot at having the people they love still be in their lives. She wanted me to share that with this fire department and with the city as a whole. Incredibly troubled. These Are the examples of why we are conducting a full and thorough investigation and why the investigation will not stop at the sites that we are here to speak about today, but will extend to any and all sites that those who operated these sites are currently operating in across our city. I'm going to pass it over to our Department of Buildings Commissioner to add additional details. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So thank you for the question. We did also see that report. Based on our research, we did find that, in fact, the special inspection agency that's responsible for that work, their license is, in fact, still good. It's actually good till 2029. We believe that some of the confusion may have been that the research that was being done was looking at an old portal, the BIS, the Building Information Systems portal, rather than the DOB Now portal. So it's People are looking for information about special inspection agencies that was moved over to DOB now and so that would have the most current information. So as the mayor said, we are launching an extensive, full-of-government investigation into this. There were no violations or 3-in-1 complaints related to that in advance. But we will be looking not only at photos, videotape, information from any individual who shares that. And people should be encouraged to share that information. But that will be part of the investigation. And I will just underline... If there is anyone or any entity operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable. Last question will be Miles. Can you just give us an update on the department calling to tell if they're initially investigating this story? Not just the person, but the person who is responsible for what you've learned thus far. All right. So... As the fire commissioner mentioned, our focus has been on the recovery operation. So we've been supporting and making sure that the structural stability allows for the safe movement and activity inside the excavation area, making sure that we're keeping eyes on areas of instability or any possible issues that might befall those who are in there. As the debris moves, we're continuing to document and look to see what we can find, but we have to have eyes on the ground. be able to know more. Separately, we're collecting material, investigations and interviews are ongoing so all of that information will have to come together once we're able to get a better and clearer picture of what goes on the floor as debris is moved away.