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A vacant commercial building at East Burnside and Walton Ave. partially collapsed on Jan. 12, 2026, resulting in no injuries but leaving a massive pile of debris on the street and sidewalk. <\/p>\n
Photo by Emily Swanson <\/p>\n
The Department of Buildings (DOB) has taken serious action against the contractor for 57 East Burnside Ave., where a wall from a one-story commercial building under demolition collapsed<\/a> on Jan. 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n No injuries were reported after tons of brick, sidewalk scaffolding and other debris covered the street and sidewalk along Walton Ave., but General Contractor Yakov Eisenbach of Hexagon Industries Inc. is now permanently barred from DOB work permits as a general contractor and faces up to $175,000 in fines from 10 violations issued by DOB. <\/p>\n Eisenbach or another company representative could not be reached for comment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n DOB is issuing Full Stop Work Orders at all NYC construction sites run by Eisenbach, and property owners must find new contractors. The department also filed a case against him in the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), and Eisenbach voluntarily surrendered his registration as DOB moved to revoke it.<\/p>\n Even before the collapse, the contractor faced major penalties for improper work at the Burnside Ave. site.<\/p>\n DOB had already issued a Full Stop Work Order because the contractor performed demolition work out of sequence that went against the approved plans, and also illegally used an excavator for work that was supposed to be done by hand, for safety reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The problems with this contractor were not limited to the Burnside property. DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said Eisenbach\u2019s company showed a \u201crecent pattern of similar troubling incidents\u201d at construction sites throughout the city.<\/p>\n According to DOB, Jan. 12 was the seventh time that Eisenbach ignored a Stop Work order, and he was already under investigation for dangerous demolition work at other sites, including 30-01 Northern Blvd. in Queens on Jan. 7, 2026, 986 Dahill Rd. in Brooklyn on Sept. 29, 2025, 89-01 165th St. in Queens on Sept. 17, 2025, 1672 86th St. in Brooklyn on Aug. 13, 2025 and 121 Mount Hope Place in the Bronx on Dec. 23, 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Eisenbach has demonstrated a clear and troubling disregard for construction safety regulations designed to protect New Yorkers,\u201d Tigani said in a statement to the Bronx Times. \u201cHis repeated violations, including the failure to comply with Department-issued Stop Work Orders and the continuation of unsafe work practices, leave the Department no choice but to act decisively.\u201d<\/p>\n Two of these incidents, including the one at 57 Burnside Ave., occurred within the district of Council Member Pierina Sanchez, who chairs the Committee on Housing and Buildings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanchez passed a bill that became law in 2024, requiring the city to proactively inspect at-risk buildings \u2014 for instance, those where the contractor has racked up violations \u2014 and implement a plan for correction before disaster occurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanchez applauded DOB\u2019s actions against Eisenbach and credited the law for preventing what could have been a much worse situation.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cLeft unchecked, this kind of reckless behavior would inevitably cost lives,\u201d she said in a statement to the Bronx Times.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI commend Commissioner Tigani and the Department of Buildings for their swift action and thorough investigation, and for using proactive inspections as envisioned under my Int. 904, which we passed last year. This is exactly what strong enforcement looks like: intervening before tragedy strikes to protect workers, residents, and our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Reach Emily Swanson at\u00a0eswanson@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0(646) 717-0015<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113_123608-rotated.jpg\")
The entire block of Walton Ave. at East Burnside was closed to traffic the day after the building partially collapsed onto the sidewalk below. Photo by Emily Swanson<\/p>\n