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Brooklyn Collapse: How Nigerian Landlord Dodged Crackdown For 26 Years Before Building Killed 8
The Brooklyn building that collapsed on Wednesday, killing eight people, did not fall without warning.
For 26 years, its Nigerian owner, Olufemi Falade, had been flagged, fined, jailed, and named on New York City’s Worst Landlords Watchlist — yet he kept control of the property until the day it came down.
An examination of city records by the New York Post showed that Falade owes more than $450,000 in unpaid taxes, water bills and government fines, most of it linked to the three-storey building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue.
The records indicated that he owes $170,000 in fines imposed by the Department of Buildings in 2019 over improperly displayed signs, as well as $114,945 in unpaid water bills and $113,526 in property taxes dating back to 2021.
He also reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service $49,269 in unpaid personal federal income taxes, according to a 2010 tax lien, and another $4,316 in personal income taxes to New York State.
Before the collapse, the building had 98 outstanding violations recorded by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
The violations included a leaking roof, defective doors, bedbug infestations and exposed electrical wiring. Records showed that complaints about the leaking roof dated back to 1976, while further violations were issued as recently as this year.
Falade bought the 96-year-old property in 1999 through an entity known as Femi Realty Corp.
In November 2024, he transferred ownership to another company under his control, Isolag Realty Corp, signing the deed as both seller and buyer, with no money changing hands — just 11 months before the collapse.This was not his first brush with the law.
The report revealed that Falade was sentenced to 12 days in jail in 2006 and fined $50,000 for civil contempt after failing to address more than 1,800 violations across 12 Brooklyn buildings he owned at the time.
He has also appeared six times on the New York City Public Advocate’s annual “Worst Landlords Watchlist” over allegations of poor property management.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about the approval of excavation plans at the adjoining construction site, which is suspected to have contributed to the collapse.
The New York City Department of Buildings reportedly approved the excavation plans in March for a proposed three-storey, 25,000-square-foot mixed-use development at 2625 Bedford Avenue.
However, the approved plans allegedly failed to provide adequate structural reinforcement alongside the building that later collapsed.
Real estate attorney, Massimo D’Angelo, of Blank Rome, called for better coordination among city agencies responsible for property safety and enforcement.
