Wall collapse in Brooklyn Heights brings down side of neighboring building

Near Sahadi’s; asbestos may be an issue

January 29, 2024 Mary Frost

A NYC Buildings Department inspector, left, speaks to a representative of the construction company involved in a wall collapse at 181 Atlantic Ave. Monday, Jan. 29. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A wall of a one-story brick building undergoing demolition at 181 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn Heights collapsed on Monday, taking down the wall of the building next door at 179 Atlantic Ave., home of the Collyer’s Mansion home goods shop.

FDNY and emergency personnel responded at roughly 8:30 a.m. No one was hurt in the collapse.

Now just a pile of jumbled bricks, the site of the collapse was the former Atlantic Fruits & Vegetables (aka K&Y Market), a popular produce market two storefronts west of Sahadi’s. K&Y shut its doors in March 2023. The building was more than 100 years old.

NYC Department of Buildings Spokesperson Ryan Degan told the Brooklyn Eagle that, according to the agency’s preliminary report, when DOB inspectors arrived at the scene, they observed that a section of brick masonry at 181 Atlantic Ave. “had collapsed inward into the demo site. Inspectors also observed that prior to the collapse, the contractors had already removed the building’s roof as a part of permitted demolition operations.”

The collapse of the wall at 181 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn Heights also took down a wall of the building next door at 179 Atlantic Ave., home of the Collyer’s Mansion home goods shop. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

311 complaints prior to collapse

The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) had received three anonymous complaints via 311 about work being carried out without a permit at 181 Atlantic Ave. in the days leading up to the collapse, but had resolved two of them, Degan said.

On Jan. 18, a complaint was logged on the DOB website stating, “There is … some kind of demolition going on yet there [is] no permit posted.” On Jan. 19, DOB’s website posted the complaint: “Construction/renovation work is being done on a commercial unoccupied building. There is no roof, or back wall present. There is no permit posted for this work to be done.”

On Jan. 26, the following complaint was logged: “Full demolition without permit. Removal of entire roof of entire 1-story building, left exterior wall unsupported, unbraced, and in danger of collapse.”

Degan said that DOB had investigated the Jan. 18 and Jan.19 complaints jointly on Jan. 24. “DOB personnel did not find any violating conditions at the site during those visits and found that active work permits were present,” he told the Eagle.

However, the Jan. 26 complaint remains open and is under investigation, he said. “We remain on the scene and the investigation is ongoing.”

The appearance of 181 Atlantic Ave. last year, after the popular K&Y produce market closed. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

On Monday morning, three paper permits were posted on the construction fence surrounding the site. One was issued on Jan. 12 permitting construction of a sidewalk shed. Another was issued on Jan. 16 permitting a temporary construction fence.

A permit for “full demolition” was filed for and issued on Thursday, Jan. 25, to Hongzhi Liu of Proton CCM LLC. According the DOB website, the proposed job start was for the same day. (An initial demo application was filed in 2019.)

After DOB visited the site on Monday, Proton CCM LLC was cited for “Failure to safeguard adjacent property during demolition operations.”

Asbestos removal was going on in violation of NYC rules

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection also slapped a Stop Work Order on the building on Monday after an agent inspected the site. According to a sign posted on the construction wall, the inspection determined that an asbestos removal project had been ongoing there, in violation of the NYC Air Pollution Control Rules and “and the work poses a threat to human safety.”

All work at the site must be stopped until the company submits a written scope of work to DEP and has it approved, according to the posting. Violation could result in fines of up to $10,000 a day, according to the order.

The collapse of 181 Atlantic Ave., seen to the right in this 2023 photo, brought down a wall of the Collyer’s Mansion shop, seen left. Collyer’s Mansion is currently closed for renovation. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Former home of popular fruit and vegetable market

The building owner and proprietor of the former K&Y produce market, Ki Yol Kim, is replacing the old building with a four-story mixed use development, with retail on the ground floor and six one- or two-bedroom apartments upstairs.

A proposal by Fang Architect, PC depicts masonry walls, cast stone lintels and sills, and a dark grey metal cornice which lines up with a neighboring four-story building. Community Board 2 approved the development in 2019 and Landmarks issued a Certificate of Appropriateness in 2021.

In reviewing the proposal, Landmarks noted that, while the existing building was originally constructed in the late 19th- to early 20th-century, it had experienced several alterations prior to Landmark designation, and was further altered in the 1990s.

The plan for a new building at 181 Atlantic Ave., seen center, depicts masonry walls, cast stone lintels and sills, and a dark gray metal cornice which lines up with a neighboring four-story building. Rendering: Fang Architect, PC

A 1940s-era photo included as part of the filing displayed a building with a plain storefront, flat roof and half awning. A photo from the 1960s showed the facade had been entirely rebuilt in brick and included an arched false front (its current state).

Since the proposed design and its materials would be harmonious with other buildings along Atlantic Avenue and throughout the district, Landmarks decided that the new building would “enhance the special architectural character of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District.”

The owner of Collyer’s Mansion did not return a call by press deadline.