Bed-Stuy Church Roof Collapses a Year After City Sold Its Tax Lien
The ECB penalty is $2,500, unpaid, with a hearing Nov. 25. The lot is zoned R6B and a 2011 contract of sale never produced a recorded deed.
On Sept. 18, a Department of Buildings inspector found the roof of 55A Jefferson Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant partly collapsed, with structural debris from the roof down to the cellar. The owner is a church, and the city sold a tax lien on the lot to a lien trust almost a year earlier.
Why it matters
ECB violation 39204619L is a Class 1 construction violation for failing to maintain the building safely, served on New Jerusalem Holy Baptist Church. The building was already flagged. DOB’s violation file shows an active Unsafe Buildings violation from April 8, 2026, and a June 8 emergency order to seal the first-floor openings, which an inspector verified on July 10. The records show no vacate order.
The people at stake are the congregation and the block. City lot data lists a 2-story, 2-unit building from 1899, 2,160 square feet on a 2,033 square foot lot.
The numbers
The ACRIS record is the money move: a tax lien sale document dated Sept. 16, 2025 and recorded Oct. 2, 2025, from the City of New York to Bank of New York. The amount is not in the record. The church’s own chain is long. City records show deeds in 1972 and 1983, and a 2011 contract with a Brooklyn acquisition company that never became a recorded deed.
The lot is zoned R6B with a built floor area ratio of 1.06 against 2.0 allowed for residential use, so about 1,900 square feet of buildable area is unused. Assessed value is $111,060. The ECB penalty is $2,500, none paid, with a hearing Nov. 25. HPD shows one open Class B violation. A web search found no sale listing or development filing.
What’s next
Watch the Nov. 25 hearing, any DOB vacate or demolition order, and whether the lien holder moves to foreclose. We did not find a sale or development filing, and we are not suggesting one is coming. For another Brooklyn collapse case this week, see 335 East 34th Street, and more in our New York coverage.
On the record
What we checked ourselves, and where you can check it too.
- Public recordECB 39204619L, issued and served Sept. 18, 2026 to the church, a Class 1 construction violation: DOB observed a partial collapse of the roof structure with collapsed structural components and debris inside the building from roof to cellar. Penalty $2,500, none paid, hearing Nov. 25, 2026, status pending.View the record on a810-bisweb.nyc.gov
- Public recordBefore the collapse, DOB had an active Unsafe Buildings violation on the address (issued April 8, 2026) and issued an emergency declaration on June 8, 2026 to seal the first-floor openings against unauthorized access. DOB logged it in compliance July 10. A complaint was entered Sept. 17 and inspected Sept. 18.View the record on a810-bisweb.nyc.gov
- Public recordA tax lien sale document dated Sept. 16, 2025 and recorded Oct. 2, 2025 runs from the City of New York to Bank of New York on this lot. ACRIS lists no amount, so the size of the lien is not public in that record. A Sept. 2011 contract between the church and a Brooklyn acquisition company is recorded, but no deed to that company follows and city lot data still lists the church as owner.View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
On the record
- Primary recordNYC OATH/DOB ECB violations, 39204619LECB 39204619L, 55A Jefferson Avenue: partial roof collapse with debris from roof to cellar, penalty $2,500
- Primary recordNYC DOB BIS, property profile BIN 305736055A Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn
- Primary recordNYC ACRIS, 2025 tax lien sale document 2025100100521001TLS, City of New York to Bank of New York, recorded Oct. 2, 2025
- Primary recordNYC ACRIS, 2011 contract 2011092701490001Contract, church to a Brooklyn acquisition company, Sept. 2011