Man whose wife, son were injured in Brooklyn building collapse wants answers: “The building had no reason to fall on its own”
The world crumbled around Anderson Velez’s family on Wednesday when the multi-use Brooklyn building where they resided collapsed.
Video from a baby monitor showed his terrified sons and wife, Joanna, inside their third-floor apartment as the walls broke open and crashed. CBS News also obtained surveillance video capturing the apartment building and storefront crashing down.
Eight people, ranging in age from 9 to 31, died in the collapse, including two children. Another 18 were injured.
Joanna Velez remains hospitalized, as does their 9-year-old son, Pablo Alvarez, who is recovering from surgery for a severe head injury. Miraculously, their 2-year-old son Joseph Alvarez survived with barely a scratch.
Anderson Velez, who was not home at the time, told CBS News his fear when he heard of the collapse was that his children had “lost their lives.”
The building where the Velez family resided collapsed into an adjacent construction site and also tore off the side of another building in the process.
Now, the search for answers and accountability is underway, as the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
The collapsed building had 98 open violations, according to records from the New York City Department of Buildings.
The same agency had also earlier this year ordered a contractor to stop demolition work that was underway at the adjacent construction site. When the contractor continued the demolition work despite the stop-work order, the buildings department issued a violation in April.
In May, though, the violation was addressed and the stop-work order was lifted, the buildings department said.
That contractor, Townhouse Builders, has been sued at least 67 times since 2012, according to court records reviewed by CBS News.
“Buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failures,” Farah Louis, a member of the New York City Council, said in a news conference Friday. “Especially when records show a building with nearly 100 open violations sitting next to an excavation site cited for violating a stop-work order.”
Anderson Velez believes that construction taking place in the site next door led to the collapse.
“The building had no reason to fall on its own,” he said.
Asked about his thoughts when he sees the video of the collapse, Anderson Velez responded, “Honestly, I still watch it and tears come to my eyes.”
CBS News has reached out to the owner of the collapsed building for comment but has not heard back.
