Residents displaced after Flatbush building collapse navigate next steps

News 12
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Nov 13, 2026
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For those who did survive, the struggle is just beginning.
They aren't just left without a home.
Many escaped with no ID, no medication,
and really nothing to their name.
In a News 12 exclusive, Julia Burns follows displaced residents
as they search for what comes next after this tragedy.
A Flatbush building comes crashing down.
Some residents inside at the time of that collapse,
one asleep, when she tells me she made the terrifying
realization that there shouldn't be sunlight indoors.
And that thump.
That movement in your core, in your abdomen,
and it's coming straight up to your chest,
and you feel that boom. You just want
to hold on to something in your house.
Video shows her managing to get out with the help of firefighters,
and she says that's when the adrenaline kicked in.
And all I hear is somebody knocking at the door. You have to get out.
And I'm just looking at the door like, how I'm getting out?
Oh, this is...
It's just traumatizing.
Now she's without a home, but not alone.
With IDs and belongings left behind in the rubble,
a group of residents came together
to travel from Brooklyn into Manhattan,
where they're told the Red Cross will help them.
We need to get to Red Cross or we don't have no money.
While they tell me they're thankful to be alive,
it's impossible to forget what's left behind.
And we have pets inside still, and we're going to the Red Cross now
to get provisions and a placement.
For us, so we won't be homeless to that extent.
The Red Cross tells me they're helping at least 19 people.
But at least for now, for these residents, it's one breath at a time.
Now, residents told me they were just told that they'll
be able to stay in those hotels until the end of the month.
And then they'll have to reach out to the city they
were told to get placed in a shelter.
Now, of course, we'll update you as soon
as more information becomes available.
But for now, that's the latest here in Manhattan.
Julia Burns, News 12.
