An excavator fell through a temporary floor at a Downtown Brooklyn demolition site Tuesday evening, according to police, marking the second safety scare at the address in less than three months. The incident happened around 6:23 p.m. at 245 Duffield St., and officials say no injuries were reported. Video captured on the Citizen app appears to show the heavy machinery dropping through the floor as demolition work continued at the site.
The cause of why the excavator was positioned over a temporary floor not built to hold it remains unknown, police told PIX11. The outlet reported the incident and cited police as the source confirming the location and timing of the collapse. No arrests or citations tied to Tuesday's incident have been disclosed.
The building at 245 Duffield Street is being cleared to make way for a 30-story, 158-unit mixed-use tower that would rise 450 feet, according to Department of Buildings permits filed in December 2025 and reported by New York YIMBY. The design calls for roughly 100,000 square feet of residential and retail space. Developer Golden Stone Management, led by Steven Shi, bought the site in October 2025 for $31 million from longtime owner E&R Duffield Holdings Associates LLC, which had held the parcel for over three decades, per the Brooklyn Eagle.
A Second Safety Scare at the Same Address
Tuesday's floor collapse is not the first trouble at 245 Duffield Street. Less than three months earlier, on June 18, falling glass panels from the same demolition site injured two pedestrians, according to News12. That incident, which Hoodline covered in Glass Rain Sends Two to Hospital, hospitalized both pedestrians and raised early questions about how the demolition was being managed.
The site previously held a vacant two-story retail building that operated as a Planet Fitness gym, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. It had been marketed as a development parcel following its sale, as reported by The Real Deal.
What the Building Code Requires
NYC Building Code Chapter 33 mandates that mechanical demolition equipment operated on building floors undergo structural load capacity reviews by a licensed professional engineer before deployment, according to the city's Department of Buildings. Unapproved heavy equipment loads on temporary flooring violate city building codes, the department notes. It remains unclear whether Tuesday's incident involved a lapse in that review process, and no such determination has been made public.
The collapse also echoes a February 2024 incident in which a floor collapse at a separate Brooklyn residential construction site killed one worker and injured another after floor structures gave way under heavy debris and equipment loads, as reported by CBS New York. That earlier case underscored floor overload as a hazard Department of Buildings inspectors have flagged repeatedly.
Brooklyn's Construction Boom Brings Added Risk
That pace reflects substantial development activity across the area.
Citywide, construction-site incidents and fatalities are part of the broader safety picture. Brooklyn's construction sites are part of that citywide activity, and mechanical equipment is among the hazards associated with construction work.
Steven Shi's Golden Stone Management, also referenced in filings under the name FBL Development, was also mentioned in Hoodline coverage in August. Whether the Department of Buildings will issue formal violations or a stop-work order at 245 Duffield Street following the two safety incidents has not been announced.
