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Safety News

VIDEO: Roof Collapse Kills Worker in Brooklyn, No Permits Pulled

A 43-year-old man trapped under the fallen roof of a former Brooklyn, N.Y., steakhouse was rushed to hospital where he later died

By Bryan Gottlieb
Images after a shed roof collapsed during unpermitted installation of a refrigeration unit at a former steak house in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Image: FDNY

Images after a shed roof collapsed during unpermitted installation of a refrigeration unit at a former steak house in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

— Image courtesy of FDNY

June 12, 2025

A construction worker was killed last Thursday at the site of a former steakhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., after the building’s shed roof collapsed during demolition work lacking proper permits, according to the New York City Department of Buildings.

The work site, in Brooklyn’s Marine Park neighborhood, once housed a restaurant called T Fusion Steakhouse, according to CBS News, which also reported that emergency responders were first called to the site around 9 a.m. 

The worker, a 43-year-old man, lay trapped after the roof failure, unconscious, following the installation of a new refrigeration unit inside an addition to the original building, city officials said. 

In a statement, Fire Department officials stated emergency responders arrived on the scene within four minutes and found the man trapped beneath a heavy slab of concrete. 

Firefighters used the “jaws of life” and specialized airbags to lift the slab and a piece of heavy equipment, the FDNY said.

The man, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, was taken to Brookdale University Medical Center in critical condition, where he later died, police said. 

The structural failure happened in a concrete extension behind the building, which had been used for storage, according to the Buildings Department, which is investigating the incident.

Video courtesy of CBS News New York

Workers had been demolishing a walk-in freezer and commercial kitchen, the department said, confirming that no permits for work had been filed with the city. The Brooklyn Paper reported that utility service to the building was shut off after the collapse. 

The Building Department issued a red-tag stop-work order, and multiple investigations have been launched by the City Fire Department, the Department of Buildings, the Office of Emergency Management, and OSHA, police confirmed. 

KEYWORDS: crime fatal work injuries investigation New York OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) restaurants roof damage roof failure safety equipment video

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Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage.

Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business.


Follow Bryan Gottlieb on LinkedIn

email gottliebb@enr.com | office: (248) 786-1591

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