Less than two weeks after a building in Borough Park partially collapsed, killing one construction worker, the New York City Department of Buildings discovered an illegal excavation project in a different section of Borough Park and ordered the evacuation of three attached buildings on 13th Avenue, according to a report on News12.

More than a dozen tenants were now forced out of their homes. The Red Cross told News12 that they were assisting 16 people to find new homes, including four children. 

According to the report, the city was first alerted to the illegal construction on Feb. 2, the same day a construction worker died in a partial collapse of a building less than a mile away, also without a permit. As Shtetl reported at the time, that residential single family home also served as a synagogue.

The city only gained access to the 13th Avenue buildings on Sunday, Feb. 11, and, upon discovering that the excavation was destabilizing the building, immediately ordered the evacuation.

Early Monday morning, a post on the DOB’s account on X, formerly Twitter, included a meme of Kansas City football player Travis Kelce shouting at his coach, with the post in all caps:

“STOP EXCAVATING OUT THE FLOORS OF YOUR BASEMENTS WITHOUT ENGINEERED DRAWINGS AND PERMITS. 

“YOU ARE DESTABILIZING THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF YOUR BUILDINGS…”

The building is said to be owned by a kosher grocery store called Kosher Mehadrin Operations USA, an LLC, which allows the owner to remain anonymous.

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