For Immediate Release:  January 22, 2026
CONTACT: dobcommunications@buildings.nyc.gov, (212) 393-2126

CITY SUSPENDS GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR DANGEROUS PATTERN OF FLOUTING SAFETY REGULATIONS AT WORK SITES

 Action Taken After Recent Wall Collapse In The Bronx; After immediate investigation City Moves to Strip Contractor’s Ability to Operate in the Five Boroughs

New York, NY – Commissioner Ahmed Tigani announced today that the Department of Buildings is taking immediate action to suspend the registration of General Contractor Yakov Eisenbach of Hexagon Industries Inc., following an uncontrolled wall collapse at a demolition work site in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx earlier this month. A comprehensive investigation of the incident and of Mr. Eisenbach’s General Contractor registration found a recent pattern of similar troubling incidents at other demolition sites across the five boroughs. In the interest of public safety, DOB is in the process of issuing Full Stop Work Orders at all sites in the city where Mr. Eisenbach is listed as the permit holder, until such time as the property owners can hire a new contractor. Department attorneys also filed a case against Mr. Eisenbach at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), in an effort to fully revoke his ability to obtain construction permits in New York City going forward.

“Unsafe construction practices put lives and homes at risk. I am grateful for DOB’s quick intervention to preserve New Yorkers’ safety and to ensure there is not further damage done across the city,” said Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning. “New York City will continue to support and encourage construction that follows the necessary building regulations – and that includes cracking down on those who do not follow these regulations.”

“Mr. Eisenbach has demonstrated a clear and troubling disregard for construction safety regulations designed to protect New Yorkers,” said Commissioner Tigani. “His 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. These reckless actions pose an imminent risk to public safety and require immediate disciplinary action. While the Department is committed to keeping construction projects moving, our duty to the public demands that compliance with safety regulations is nonnegotiable. Progress can never come at the expense of worker or public safety.”

“Being careless with construction doesn’t just break the law — it puts lives at risk,” said NYC Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. “This general contractor has a documented pattern of ignoring Stop Work Orders, with more than six serious incidents across the city — including two in my district, one of them the recent partial building collapse behind my own office. Left unchecked, this kind of reckless behavior would inevitably cost lives. I 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.”

On January 12, 2026, construction crews in the employment of Mr. Eisenbach were performing demolition operations at a large single-story building at 57 East Burnside Avenue in the Bronx. While work was ongoing, a building wall along Walton Avenue experienced an uncontrolled collapse, spilling out onto an adjacent sidewalk shed, and sending debris approximately 15 feet onto the roadway. Thankfully, no one was hurt because of the collapse, which could have resulted in serious injuries or even death. DOB’s investigation into this incident determined that the contractor ignored a previously issued Full Stop Work Order for the site, which legally prevented the demolition from proceeding; was performing the demolition out of sequence diminishing the safe guards required to be allowed to advance the work, and contrary to the approved engineering plans; and was illegally using an excavator to speed up the demolition work, which was approved to be performed by hand for the general safety of workers and the public.

Prior to the collapse in the Bronx, Mr. Eisenbach was under investigation by the Department’s Licensee Disciplinary Unit and the Buildings Special Investigations Unit (BSIU) for unsafe demolition operations at multiple other sites. This incident in the Bronx was the seventh time that Mr. Eisenbach has been cited for violating an active Stop Work Order at a demolition or construction site. Previous incidents at sites where Mr. Eisenbach was the General Contractor include, but are not limited to:

• January 7, 2026 – At 30-01 Northern Boulevard in Queens, an excavator was being used to demolish a building without DOB’s approval and overhead protection equipment around the site was not installed, contrary to the approved plans.

• September 29, 2025 – At 986 Dahill Road in Brooklyn, where demolition work was underway, work to remove elements of the building was performed out of sequence and required safeguards to protect workers and the public had not been implemented, causing the remaining structure to become dangerously unstable and damaging the neighboring building.

• September, 17, 2025 – At 89-01165th Street in Queens, eight adjoining single-story commercial buildings were demolished without permits.

• August 13, 2025 – At 1672 86th Street in Brooklyn, an excavator was being used to demolish a building without DOB’s approval and overhead protection equipment around the site was not installed, contrary to approved plans, causing a chimney at the site to become unstable, necessitating the evacuation of a neighboring building.

• December 23, 2024 – At 121 Mount Hope Place in the Bronx, while demolition operations were underway, debris fell from the site, pushing over the jobsite fence, which struck the neighboring building. 

The volume of demonstrated unsafe demolition activity across multiple sites constitutes a serious threat to public safety. As the permit holder for all of these jobs, Mr. Eisenbach was legally responsible for ensuring that each of these sites were in full compliance with city regulations.