For the past 36 years, a three-story building in Brooklyn was home to Body Elite Gym.
Then, on Wednesday, it took just a few moments for it to completely disappear into a cloud of debris.
Witnesses say the sudden building collapse, which occurred at 4:30 p.m. EST, sounded like an explosion. "It was the loudest boom or bang I ever heard," says 35-year-old Vincenza Rizzuto, who was stopped at a nearby traffic light when the building fell. "It was a huge boom and then people screamed and smoke was all over." Fortunately, the building was unoccupied, according to the NYPD. City records reveal the building was being renovated when the construction crew was slapped with a June 10th cease work order for a violation. It's unclear if the violation had anything to do with the collapse. Do you generally feel safe when you're inside a building? Do we put too much trust in professionals?