{"id":10457,"date":"2026-11-12T20:50:53","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=10457"},"modified":"2026-11-13T05:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T05:40:24","slug":"flatbush-building-collapse-death-life-nonsense-and-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/flatbush-building-collapse-death-life-nonsense-and-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Flatbush Building Collapse: Death, Life, Nonsense and Prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2787.1139591558417!2d-73.9539175!3d40.6390044!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x89c25b4933232f5b%3A0x60d041313844315!2s1321%20Flatbush%20Ave%2C%20Brooklyn%2C%20NY%2011226!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1794508164356!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><br>(1321 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY; Google Maps (November 12, 2026))\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Update (3:40 p.m., 11:35 p.m. Central, November 12, 2026) &#8211; Wikipedia now has a page about this building collapse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2026_New_York_City_building_collapse\">2026 New York City building collapse<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2026_New_York_City_building_collapse#Collapse_and_rescue\">Collapse and rescue<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2026_New_York_City_building_collapse#Damage_and_evacuations\">Damage and evacuations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"yesterday\"><\/a>Yesterday Afternoon: Building Down in Brooklyn<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">News of a &#8220;partial building collapse&#8221; in Brooklyn, showed up on YouTube last night. Headlines about the incident started showing up in my news feed late this morning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/rescue-operations-underway-after-building-collapses-brooklyn-new\/story?id=138059620\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20261025ff\/20261112-brooklyn-11-rt-er-261111_1794438794021_hpMain-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;Emergency personnel work at the scene of a partial building collapse in Brooklyn&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(Angelina Katsanis\/Reuters via ABC News (November 11, 2026))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/rescue-operations-underway-after-building-collapses-brooklyn-new\/story?id=138059620\">At least 8 dead, including 2 children, after building collapses in Brooklyn, New York<\/a>&#8221; <br>&#8220;The urgent search for survivors continues as officials warn of more victims.&#8221; <br>Meredith Deliso, Aaron Katersky, Jon Haworth; ABC News (November 12, 2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;At least eight people are dead, including two children, and over a dozen others injured after a three-story building collapsed into an open construction site in Brooklyn, according to New York City authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Firefighters and police officers spent the night sifting through debris at the construction site. The &#8220;dangerous&#8221; search-and-rescue operation is ongoing, and there could be more victims, fire officials warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;A three-story multiple dwelling at the intersection of Flatbush and Bedford Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood collapsed Wednesday afternoon into an adjacent excavation site, where workers were on scene, according to fire officials. The wall of another three-story building that now stands next to the site was also shorn off, exposing apartments&#8230;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calling the collapse &#8220;partial&#8221; is arguably accurate, since quite a bit of the back wall of 1321 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, was still there. But I doubt that folks working on the first floor, or living in the four apartments above see it as anything but a total loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s early days, so details aren&#8217;t entirely clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s hardly surprising, since the three-story commercial\/residential building fell into a construction site next door just after 4:00 p.m. yesterday. As I&#8217;m writing this, that&#8217;s just over 20 hours ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, rescuers have found upwards of two dozen folks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From what I&#8217;ve heard and read, six were dead when they were found. Another two died after they&#8217;d been taken to hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least 19 folks are alive but hurt, four critically. One of the critically injured folks is a pregnant woman, six months along. Her husband wasn&#8217;t on site when their home came down. He \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014 &#8220;&#8230;had been frantically looking for his pregnant wife [then] told reporters, &#8216;I have an update from my wife, she is alive,&#8217; before boarding an ambulance with a victim&#8230;.&#8221; <br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/rescue-operations-underway-after-building-collapses-brooklyn-new\/story?id=138059620\">At least 8 dead,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/rescue-operations-underway-after-building-collapses-brooklyn-new\/story?id=138059620\">after building collapses&#8230;<\/a>&#8221; Deliso, Katersky, Haworth; ABC News (November 12, 2026))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the folks killed yesterday was working at the construction site. Since he was the sole provider for his wife and child, that family isn&#8217;t in good shape. Two more are children: a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What astonishes me is that <strong>anyone<\/strong> survived the collapse: particularly folks living on the second and third floor apartments. I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;d call it &#8220;miraculous&#8221;, but getting dropped a dozen or so feet, then having what&#8217;s left of a building dropped on you \u2014 and still being <strong>alive<\/strong> \u2014 is remarkable: at the very least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"responses\"><\/a>Responses: Good and Otherwise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least some of the news coverage on YouTube included live chat. I didn&#8217;t participate in that, partly because I haven&#8217;t figured out how to yet. But I did glance at the ongoing discourse a few times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yesterday evening, as rescue teams were swarming the construction pit, a few chatting folks suggested brief prayers for those involved: above and below the rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No pressure, but asking God to look after the folks seems like a good idea. I&#8217;ve been doing that myself: no big deal, it&#8217;s the least I can do. And pretty much the most, too. This household is something like a thousand miles away, and lacks resources to reach that far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"perceptions\"><\/a>Perceptions and Partiality<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/politics-poppycock-and-a-mess-in-minnesota\/#immigrants\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/20150619-1024px-Joseph_F_Keppler_-_Uncle_Sam-s_lodging-house-detail--329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail, Joseph F. Keppler's 'Uncle Sam's lodging-house:' an anti-Irish cartoon. Puck (NY) centerfold. (June 7, 1882)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Irish immigrants as pests: Puck (NY). (1882)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other folks blamed Republicans and\/or Democrats for the mess, or said that the victims wouldn&#8217;t \u2014 or would \u2014 get help because they&#8217;re illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still others made the usual remarks about rampant corruption and the general cussedness of everyone who wasn&#8217;t on their list of &#8216;proper people&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe I&#8217;d be shocked, horrified and appalled by those remarks: blaming it on social media and suchlike newfangled contraptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe, if I hadn&#8217;t been living and working with people for about three quarters of a century. I&#8217;ve learned to expect various flavors of virtue signalling, fervent denunciations of evil\/communist\/racist\/fascist\/whatever influences, along with examples refreshingly good sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All that&#8217;s changed along the way is how much easier communicating with folks who aren&#8217;t living or working near me is now. I&#8217;ve had the advantage of not being quite on the same page as others, so meeting folks who aren&#8217;t just like me isn&#8217;t all that shocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also helps that, although I look &#8216;Anglo&#8217;, I know my family history. That helps me realize that folks who aren&#8217;t Irish-, Norwegian-, or Scots-Americans can still be Americans. And, more to the point in situations like this, <strong>people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"seems\"><\/a>Seems Like a Good Idea<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/politics-poppycock-and-a-mess-in-minnesota\/#itsnot\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20260101ff\/20260124-960px-Young_Americas_dilemma_-_Dalrymple._LCCN2010651418-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Louis Dalrymple's 'Young America's Dilemma', showing a schoolboy standing outside a 'Public School', comparing incomes of the manager of a steel trust and a Supreme Court justice. Puck (NY) (June 12, 1901) see https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/2010651418\/\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Things are seldom this simple.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, as I said earlier: no pressure, but praying for folks affected by that building collapse seems like a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As usual, I&#8217;ve talked about how folks deal with unpleasant situations before:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/politics-poppycock-and-a-mess-in-minnesota\/\"><strong>Politics, Poppycock, and a Mess in Minnesota<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (January 31, 2026)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/politics-poppycock-and-a-mess-in-minnesota\/#labels\">Labels, Attitudes, and America: Then and Now<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/central-texas-flash-floods-camps-mystic-heart-o-the-hills\/\"><strong>Central Texas Flash Floods: Camps Mystic, Heart O&#8217; the Hills<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (July 7, 2025)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/central-texas-flash-floods-camps-mystic-heart-o-the-hills\/#disaster\">Disaster, Deaths, Doing What I Can<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-9-11-death-daft-ideas-and-a-tree\/\"><strong>Remembering 9\/11: Death, Daft Ideas and a Tree<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (September 11, 2021)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-9-11-death-daft-ideas-and-a-tree\/#lord\">Lord High Muckamucks and \u2014 Finally \u2014 a Medal<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-9-11-death-daft-ideas-and-a-tree\/#life\">Life, Death and Labels<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/cyclone-tauktae-covid-19-and-the-siloam-lesson\/#death\"><strong>Cyclone Tauktae, COVID-19 and the Siloam Lesson<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (May 22, 2021)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/cyclone-tauktae-covid-19-and-the-siloam-lesson\/#assumptions\">Assumptions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/cyclone-tauktae-covid-19-and-the-siloam-lesson\/#death\">Death and Reminders<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(1321 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY; Google Maps (November 12, 2026)) Update (3:40 p.m., 11:35 p.m. Central, November 12, 2026) &#8211; Wikipedia now has a page about this building collapse: Yesterday Afternoon: Building Down in Brooklyn News of a &#8220;partial building &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/flatbush-building-collapse-death-life-nonsense-and-prayers\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"A quick look at the November 11, 2026 building collapse in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. How I see what happened and how people reacted.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Flatbush Building Collapse: Death, Life, Nonsense and Prayers","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[192],"tags":[16,144,91,116],"class_list":["post-10457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","tag-america","tag-disasters","tag-prayer","tag-tolerance"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-2IF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10457"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10472,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10457\/revisions\/10472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}