At about 8:30 on the morning of February 26, 2026, part of the foundation under a two-story building at 174 Jefferson Street in Bushwick collapsed into the excavation and trapped two workers. FDNY got both out. A 47-year-old worker died and a 40-year-old was critically injured, according to CBS New York and other reports from the scene. No primary record names either man, and this paper will not.
What DOB wrote that day. Two complaints hit the DOB record on February 26. The first, 3A50203, came in under category 91, site conditions endangering workers, with the text "NYCEM REQUESTS AN INSPECTION DUE TO A WORKER TRAPPED IN A CONFINED SPACE." Its disposition reads "Full Stop Work Order Served." The second, 3A50928, carries the inspector's own description of what was found, and it is the only description of the physical condition on any official record: "EMER WORK-PRTL COLLAPSE OF FNDN WALL @ EXP 4 DURING EXCAV/DEMO. OBSERVED EXCAV BELOW FOOTINGS. EXP 2 (~4 FT) & EXP 4 (~6 FT) POT HAZARD. COMPLY W/CODE. RETAIN NYS PE, CS & GC 2 TEMP STAB SITE. SUBMIT SGND DOCS."
“An open inspection with no citations means exactly that: OSHA has not said anything yet, in either direction, about either company.”
Read that carefully for what it is. It says a foundation wall partially collapsed on one side of the building during excavation and demolition work, that the inspector observed excavation below the footings, and that two sides of the hole, roughly four and six feet deep, were a potential hazard. It calls for a licensed engineer, a construction superintendent, and a GC to be retained to temporarily stabilize the site, and for signed documents to be submitted. That is a condition observed after the collapse. It is not a finding of cause, and nobody on the record has called it one.
What the job was. The permit is job B01213494-I1, an Alt-CO filed June 2, 2025, described as a "PROPOSED FOUR-STORY VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL ENLARGEMENT ON EXISTING TWO-STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING," owner MTEK LLC, initial cost $977,250. In plain terms: raise and extend a two-story house into a four-story building, which means new foundation work under a building that is staying put. The one DOB violation written on the day, CE30401YU, was dismissed May 13 as "owner resolved." BIS still shows a stop-work order on the property.
Where OSHA's inspections stand. OSHA's Manhattan Area Office opened two inspections on February 26. Inspection 1877213 is a fatality/catastrophe inspection of W.G. NY Construction Corp., a nonunion firm with a Flushing mailing address, classified under NAICS 238910 (site preparation) with a trench emphasis code. Inspection 1892050 is a related, unprogrammed inspection of McKenney Construction LLC of New City. Both are listed with case status OPEN and no citations posted as of this writing. An open inspection with no citations means exactly that: OSHA has not said anything yet, in either direction, about either company.
McKenney Construction shows up elsewhere in the DOB record for this address: as permittee on a fence permit dated February 3 and, on July 1, on an earthwork permit described as "Provide site stabilization." Who held the GC slot on the main enlargement permit the morning of the collapse is not something we can read off the permit record, so we are not going to say.
Then, in April, a second stop. On April 7, complaint 3A56495 landed a partial stop-work order with this text: "BOROUGH COMMISSIONER HAS ORDERED ALL WORK STOPPED UNDER PERMIT# B01213494-I1 ON 4/7/26. CONSTRUCTION SUPERINTENDENT WITHDRAWAL." The construction superintendent of record withdrew from the job, and the borough commissioner stopped the permit. That is all the record says about it.
Why this matters to you. Raising an existing building on its old foundation is excavation next to a wall that is carrying load the whole time you work under it. The DOB inspection note, excavation below footings, describes a condition that Chapter 33 of the Building Code and the engineer's underpinning sequence both exist to control. Whether that condition was the cause here is not on the record, and we are not guessing. What is on the record is that the work being done, the enlargement of an existing residential building, is exactly the kind of job where that condition is the one to watch.
What to check before anyone goes in the hole. Three documents. First, the engineer's underpinning sequence: which pits get dug in what order, how far each one goes below the existing footing, and what holds the wall while the pit is open. If your crew cannot point to the sequence drawing, stop. Second, Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code, which sets the protection requirements for excavation and adjoining structures; the engineer's drawings have to satisfy it and the site has to match the drawings. Third, OSHA 1926 Subpart P, which sets the federal floor for trench and excavation protection once the cut is past five feet: a competent person, daily inspections, and a protective system or a sloped bank. The DOB note puts one side of this hole at about six feet. None of that tells you what happened at 174 Jefferson. All of it tells you what to have in hand on your own job next week.