Cancelled - Hard Rock Hotel Collapse New Orleans

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In October of 2019, the nearly completed Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans suffered a catastrophic failure. The massive collapse injured 30 people, killed 3 workers and became the worst American engineering failure in years. Today I'm going to investigate what happened, look at the history behind this controversial tower and find out why this major disaster happened.
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Other Reporting on the New Orleans Collapse -
WWLTV Full Collapse Video - • Never before seen vide...
Engineers Discussing Faults - • Engineer says several ...
Rare Photos From Inside - • Photos: Inside the dam...
Drone Footage - • Hard Rock Hotel Collap...
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Bright Sun Films 2023
Presented in 4K

[@whizwart1]

I don't know if maybe I missed you mentioning it, but the really screwed up part was that the body of one of the construction workers was visible from street level for months. It was right on a really unstable part, so no one could get to it. Somehow they got a tarp over him, but it blew off sometime later. The community was livid that there's a victims body just sitting there while everyone argued what to do.

[@portermcsorley]

It’s a shame that happened, but at the same time, it’s stupid to risk losing yet another life to retrieve a person that is already deceased.

[@whizwart1]

@@portermcsorley Oh, I agree, but the feeling is it only took that long because the dev and the city were too busy blaming each other rather than looking for a solution.

[@LazarusStr]

Wow…I have no words. That’s above being a shame. That simply deplorable 😤😤😤

[@jenn-k-h]

Oh that's so sad 😔 Poor guy.

[@bruceh4180]

That's truly disgusting and appalling. Sounds like an episode of the TV show Bones or something.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

The prosecutor being dismissed was most likely because of corruption on the part of the city. You described the shortcomings of city oversight, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some bribes that led to those oversights. Investigation would have implicated city officials, so they derailed the investigation. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the case. New Orleans is not known for its square-dealing ways and forthright morality, after all

[@scott917]

New Orleans more crooked than a sack full of snakes.

[@valeriepark9444]

That sounds like EXACTLY what happened

[@mattkaustickomments]

It’s the REAL Sin City.

[@chrisperry9002]

That's exactly why. Corruption 😊

[@SelecaoOfMidas]

That's the Big Easy for you!

[@L-A-C-IV]

Anyone from New Orleans could tell you how shockingly textbook this level of mismanagement and insanity is when it comes to infrastructure in the city. Seriously, the number of calamities and truly bizarre urban planning/development projects where everything goes wrong, nothing gets done, and everyone gets shafted (or worse) and no one is held accountable is staggering. It's a whole rabbit hole you can go down. From miles of highway exits to nowhere in places that never should have been approved that have sat for 50 years, the fall of Pontchartrain Beach, 8000 insane projects with the airport(s) & of course the city being left holding the bag with Six Flags amongst so many others you could literally do a whole series of full length documentaries on it. My father was an urban planner for the city for 25 years and some of the shit that I heard about growing up is insane.

[@L-A-C-IV]

To name drop some certified classics for my fellow people from NOLA who will inevitably see this: - (As mentioned above) "Orlandia" - the proposed "shoppers and suburban paradise" development of some of the least usable, nastiest marshland that the city approved in the 50s/60s that (shockingly) didn't go anywhere for decades and is the reason for the existence of miles of exits to nowhere on I10 in New Orleans East & on the then-undeveloped ground Six Flags stands on. - Countless different goofy schemes and projects surrounding Lake Forest Mall - The story of Girod Street Cemetery - in a weird way is the spiritual precursor to the city leaving the dead guy exposed at the Hard Rock hotel - Freightliner ships crashing into shiny new, already failing malls - Lincoln Beach: A small renegade group of people in the local community cleaning up the cities other derelict abandoned amusement park (Abandoned since the 60s) out of sheer desperation for a place to have recreational amenities on the lake that had been promised over and over for decades. Despite actively trying to stop it and threatening people, the city finally got on board and has actually lead to the city to finally make and approve an actual plan for Lincoln Beach. - Charity Hospital - Pretty much any bridge or major road/highway has some sort of soap opera lore behind it involving the city and the mob and taking forever to get built. - The 1984 New Orleans World's Fair (whole rabbit hole in itself) - New Orleans Brass ECHL team fiasco (Fun fact: All three members of the ownership group have been federally prosecuted for skimming money off of other city projects, completely unrelated to each other --- and those guys are the VICTIMS in the Brass fiasco) - Insert one of many Airport related development disasters here

[@erikh9991]

My client in November of 2004 bought the Queen Hotel in NO. Katrina came in a blew it away in August 2005. It took her 5 years to get rid of that hotel mess. That place is haunted.

[@zerxilk8169]

he did do one on 6 flags. pretty sure they have done several about the flooding.

[@yea-give-emhell7704]

@@L-A-C-IV I'd love to know the back story on these events... I love NO but that corruption that exist has a certain lure for me... Tfs

[@georgesheffield1580]

Yes ,just look at the senators from Lousiana at the US con gress or their actions during hurricane Katrina

[@KevinxDoll]

as a metal worker, 16 gauge sheet metal is a little tough to bend by hand. pretty strong. 20 gauge is stuff you can bend with your fingers.

[@jasons8479]

And this was even thinner... 22 gauge! (The higher the number, the thinner it is)

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

From 16 to 22 gauge is a tremendous difference. That much of a change is shockingly bad judgement.

[@Q-anon]

'Our project was an objective failure in every way' 'Let's try it again and sue the city too' Incredible.

[@MM-24]

Well, technically it was an engineering / structural fault, get a new engineering firm and try again Why not? They still own the land Im shocked they didnt get sued , and lose the land in the process

[@AbleBodied]

​​​@@MM-24it ain't over. The families of the deceased will win their lawsuits and the fines from OSHA should put that development firm into bankruptcy. They will then start a new company under a new LLC and proceed to build with probably the city giving the new company tax credits that is really cash right into their bank account. A win, win occasion. Ugh.

[@MM-24]

@@AbleBodied appreciate your knowledgeable content. I'm new to the development game. What would be the reason for the tax credits? Corruption im sure would play a role

[@AbleBodied]

Any LLC Developer/ company can petition the city for tax credits for their industry to "employ many residents" and bring in a 'Future" tax revenues OR they sign contract with local, state or Federal government to provide low/ moderate income housing for residents. New Orleans has not evolved much into tax credits buildings yet (but starting now), since Hurricane Katrina Relief finds had free federal monies to be given to corporations, not citizens. Promises, involving usually housing or employment is involved. Or you can look look up "tax credits to corporations." That tax credit given is deposited in the bank in the form of cash incentives, to actually BUILD and CONSTRUCT with those dollars. You use those credits/dollars to get loans from bank with tenants projected rent as the LLCs future income/ revenue. Then the building kick backs start, especially on non government projects. Yes, I am in the construction business. Thanks.

[@mgailp]

@@MM-24 Projects that bring in tourist dollars often get tax credits here on the expectation that the tourists will eventually bring in more money than the credit loses. Movie / TV productions often get similar tax credits because they bring in more money than lost through hotels and restaurants for the crew to be here.

[@jimoran5265]

Soon as I saw "Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans" I just thought "Oh no..." because literally the only thing I knew about this project is the collapse and how they left the remains in public view for months. It's terrible.

[@Xia---Yu]

wait, wait, the remains of the building? or.........?

[@LadyTarasque]

@@Xia---Yu alas, it is what it sounds like..

[@Vin80_]

@@Xia---Yuaccording to another comment, one of the bodies that was in the building for a while was visible from the streets, and the only thing the city did before they got him down was put a tarp over him, which flew away anyways.

[@Xia---Yu]

@@LadyTarasque damn. That's terrible.. makes the fact they're getting away with this even worse

[@kriscook2423]

​@@Xia---YuPeople took pictures of the poor man's legs hanging off one of the floors. Dreadful.

[@wstadlock]

As a retired Design build Engineering and General Contractor, I'm disgusted at all the incompetence and failure to prosecute

[@moldywool]

22 gauge steel for the floor pan is absolutely insane. If I were working on that job site and saw that I’d quit immediately

[@gracayaasir4515]

I worked a few blocks away from this tragedy. It still haunts me. There was no justice for the families of the lives lost.

[@harpy5197]

SAM HYDE

[@who2u333]

There rarely is.

[@rar23424]

The lead investigator getting fired for BS reasons screams corruption

[@fortunax22]

It's disgusting that no criminal charges were brought up when it's clear so many people were at fault. Part of me wonders who paid of the grand jury.

[@eddonbordeaux3192]

If you were to actually get charges in front of everyone in New Orleans who was part of the corruption there, you'd have a completely vacant government.

[@wernerdanler2742]

The DA gives a grand jury the data to make a decision on. They can only make a decision based on that data. If he leaves out relevant facts, then it is on him. Transcripts of these things are not made public.

[@dom1310df]

This is why the civilised world doesn't use grand juries.

[@queencerseilannister3519]

It's New Orleans. Corruption is the name of the game here.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

There are two possible reasons: 1. It’s Louisiana. It is generally considered to be one of the most corrupt states in the entire US. 2. This actually was just an accident caused by people making mistakes, and so there actually wasn’t criminal behavior by any of the parties, so the jury had nothing to indict. Either one is possible.

[@janmcguire5268]

Thank you for this documentary. Sadly, none of this is a surprise to me. As a former resident of New Orleans, I know firsthand that the corruption there is staggering.

[@kellychuang8373]

Really a sad incident and also in other news FB just really went screwy and isn't looking right now along with bad news of that site looks down.

[@gphilipc2031]

Detroit of the south.

[@kellychuang8373]

@@gphilipc2031 Well turns out even more bad news FB just stopped working altogether. Really can't be dealing with old operating systems look into that for details.

[@CHDean]

Former?

[@kellychuang8373]

@@CHDean Yeah really can be questionable and for other news really quit with FB and social media and deleted accounts there after those incidents I talked about really not always a cool life just like how these businesses and building went bust.

[@joshuadupay1285]

I was going to engineering school in New Orleans at the time of the collapse and the cleanup effort. Me and my peers all knew that the city would screw up every step of the process from the day of the collapse. We all gathered on our balconies to see how badly they would screw up the crane demolition and unfortunately we were right. The demo was rushed and given to the lowest bidder, so the outcome was in now way a shock. New Orleans is incredibly corrupt and sadly we all knew that nothing meaningful would come from the investigation and no justice would take place. It was very obvious throughout the whole process that the mayor and the city were trying to get rid of the evidence as fast as possible to cover up how bad they screwed up because they knew they didn’t do their jobs. Very sad and frustrating.

[@stephenjones8928]

So, the city was building this project?

[@joshuadupay1285]

@@stephenjones8928 no, but they were responsible for overseeing the design and construction and they failed at both of these.

[@stephenjones8928]

@@joshuadupay1285 That IS sad.

[@samstewart9249]

Seeing who runs Louisiana , I'm surprised they allowed bids!

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

@@stephenjones8928. No, the city did not build it. The lazy, lying "inspectors" did not inspect and the design review team, did not review. Those are all city employees. Their gps-equipped trucks exposed their reports were total fabrications. The mayor was convinced to demand who got the deconstructing and generally micro-managed every step of the process.

[@jeremy6606]

As a New Orleans native, I’m not surprised the ball was dropped that many times with no accountability. It’s like that there.

[@nucleargrizzly1776]

Nobody from New Orleans is ever surprised by anything that goes wrong in that city. More surprised when something goes right.

[@lilsaysothe1st]

@@nucleargrizzly1776 ong all you can say is Welcome to louisiana when shi like this happens

[@SonicBoone56]

It's not much better here across the state line in Mississippi either. At least we don't have to worry about the ground sinking though. And our government occasionally actually does its job.

[@DXSUCKIT1990]

Look what happened with Dibiase and Favre

[@nucleargrizzly1776]

@@lilsaysothe1st I was working in Atlanta when it came out the TV that Ray Nagin misused all of that Katrina money. Of the 30ish people in the room your could tell the three of us from New Orleans. We didn't look up, stop what we were doing of have a shocked look. I'd have been surprised if Nagin wasn't a criminal.

[@funken079]

Crazy no one was held accountable for clearly shady job site and design. The loss of life is horrible

[@Revkor]

not surprising. democrats run that town. the very fact the OG Prosector was fired just as she was releasing her findings says some kind of coverup

[@gphilipc2031]

The scary part is it likely would of held up for a while if were rocked in. Imagine that.

[@norgeek]

The *absolute* corruption necessary for everyone to walk away scott free from something like this is mind boggling 🤯

[@user-bu7hh3jd8k]

You know whos in charge of the US right?

[@zebbybobebby]

Welcome to NOLA!

[@zebbybobebby]

@@user-bu7hh3jd8k Literally has nothing to do with Louisiana. Louisiana has had corruption issues for years. Not surprising since it's predominately a republican state.

[@MrMarkOlson]

@@user-bu7hh3jd8k This building collapsed in Oct 2019, in the middle of Trump's Presidency. Is that who you mean?

[@northwolf]

DEMOCRATS. They are communists (ie, no moral integrity whatsoever, pushing a wicked agenda), and on top of that are completely intellectually incompetent. It's having inmates running the asylum. You get the most power-hungry, corrupt people rising to the top and ruling over the Leftist-voting moron masses. Look at other communist Democrat-run cities in the U.S. in a similar situation, turned into hellholes after decades of Democrat rule: Detroit, Baltimore, etc. And here's recent glaring examples....look at what's happening to San Francisco and Portland, Oregon....with the Democrats "legalizing" all sorts of immoral and criminal behavior, such as allowing people to steal and loot stores, literally take a crap on the streets, and decriminalizing drug dealing/use and even encouraging it, with the cities paying for and supplying drug addicts with their drugs and needles, etc. It's INSANITY. And by design. This is what communism is. It's an agenda deliberately designed to destroy society.

[@Housewarmin]

I'm from New Orleans and I'm so glad you covered this! The fact a MAN'S BODY lay exposed in the rubble for weeks, is just so disrespectful and greusome to him, his family and the city.

[@DaytonaPrototypes]

So shameful that no one has been held accountable. RIP to the 3 men that lost their lives.

[@alice45-fgd-456drt]

Feels like this is so common, it's rare to hear that someone's actually held accountable when man-made disaster strikes. Disappointing.

[@southern04man]

Typical for Louisiana. Especially in New Orleans.

[@barsoom43]

It's amazing what "campaign contributions" can do for criminal justice..

[@matthewmosier8439]

Look into the tunnel disaster in c H i n a if you want to be saddened. Estimated five or more thousand people killed and their gov. tried to cover it up

[@brandongardner7398]

I've been living in the New Orleans area pretty much all my life, and this is nothing new for this city. It's such a shame that this beautiful city is so corrupt. YAH bless!!!

[@abcklm9326]

The floors are noticeably sagging even in your documentary footage of the hard rock job site. that's horrifying.

[@user-li6es1so1k]

I thought it was just my old eyes seeing things. But it does look like three or four floors towards the top are bowing downwards.

[@SmokeyChipOatley]

Timestamp? Sounds like a scene out of a bad Final Destination sequel.

[@octobertheeighth]

@@SmokeyChipOatley I don't know how to link them, but I think it's pretty noticeable at 16 seconds in.

[@abcklm9326]

@@SmokeyChipOatley at 6:16 to 6:22ish

[@SmokeyChipOatley]

@@octobertheeighth Thank you! And for future reference all you have to do is type out the time code exactly as it appears in the bottom left corner when the video is paused in this format, HH:MM:SS (hour/minute/second, or simply MM:SS works too) and KZbin will automatically convert it into a clickable link for you. For example, 00:16 in this case. It's a neat little shortcut for those times you want to share a particular spot in a video with someone. Hope that helps!

[@marciej5861]

Corruption, greed, 3 deaths -- all for an unneeded eyesore.

[@user-fo7yi4qi9o]

I know you’ve intentionally left it out of this video out of respect (and the photos have been removed from the internet, anyone with an ounce of respect for human life wouldn’t look it up anyway) but I think it’s important to acknowledge how THOROUGHLY disrespected the body of one of the men who died was. He was left exposed for people on the street to observe and then covered with a tarp. I saw it by accident at the time and how bleak and disrespectful it was is one of the things that keeps me awake at night. Shame on those corrupt developers and the city for allowing any of this to happen. SHAME. That poor man and his poor family.

[@zachhatten261]

They are definitely not removed from the internet, I've come across the photos many times, as recent as a few months ago

[@jritechnology]

@@zachhatten261 Shhh! Let the Karen think the internet lost for once...maybe "it" will go away and stop being so shocked, and disrespected death and tragedy can be.

[@joeysworldsewer]

New Orleans is such a corrupt city. I dont know why anyone lives there. Murders, stench, corruption, and polluted water. NOOOOOOLAAAAAANNNNNSSSSSSS is a shithole.

[@user-fo7yi4qi9o]

@@zachhatten261 I was saying that that discourage people from looking for them champ 👍🏼

[@user-fo7yi4qi9o]

@@jritechnology are you older than 15? For real question. Can you honestly tell me how your life or education or understanding of the world would be improved in any way by seeking out images of someone who was tragically killed while just trying to earn a pay cheque like the rest of us? The Karen can wait while you think of an answer. Only a loser with zero life experience and no people who they love or who love them enough to understand the loss and sadness of death and suffering would say its cool/metal/interesting or it doesn’t matter, so I know you won’t say that.

[@colormedubious4747]

You're shocked that nobody's been held criminally accountable? In NEW ORLEANS? Well, bless your heart, aren't you just the cutest, most delightfully adorable little thang!

[@newsman9539]

Great job on the Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans, I can't believe that nobody got charged for the disaster. I can't wait for your next video.

[@MrDesmorto]

Obviously, many people, through competence and negligence, contributed to the outcome of the disaster, and did everything they could to avoid responsibility. Like firing the prosecutor who wanted to take criminal action against those responsible, so the new prosecutor could start the case from scratch.

[@Irilia_neko]

You can't believe it, but it's always like that in the US. To simply things they have invented LLC because you can't be responsible if you don't exist 😂

[@Jspider56]

I saw other youtubers cover this, they deported several whistleblowers ontop of the firing of the prosecutor. Credit travels up blame travels down. This project was pretty aggressively done incorrect at every level. I'm sure those the most at fault worked really hard to make sure they were ignorant as to why their demands lead to this.

[@carlmorgan8452]

I saw too much weight and building supplies on the roof.

[@TheBrooklynfoo]

There is one other shameful note to this story. One worker was very concerned with the conditions on site and brought the structural integrity issues to his foreman before the collapse. They didn't acknowledge his concerns and because he was an illegal worker, they actually had him deported. Thats what he got for trying to do the right thing. Disgusting.

[@LeanneFowler-ms5xc]

That's horrible!

[@MozTS]

He shouldnt have been a criminal alien then

[@BillionairesArentYourFriends]

This country is abhorrent. He got lucky. His attitude isn't welcomed here.

[@timestorm0]

@@MozTS You are missing the point, that he could have testified againts your greedy comrades, stop smoking and watching porn.

[@Frog_Puppet]

​@@MozTS Your priorities are ass fucking backwards if that's all you got from his comment.

[@pianowithmark]

I was at the next-door Saenger Theatre the night before the Hard Rock collapsed. Part of the building damaged the roof, closing the theatre for months on end. Huge fatality. It's disgraceful how long it took them to clean up that mess.

[@rachaelnelson3531]

As a resident, regularly going past the body just dangling out the side was...bizarre. and the city deporting one of the survivors was suuuuuper classy as well

[@selanryn5849]

ICE deported the survivor. The city fought to keep him in the country because they needed him to testify as a witness against the developer.

[@rachaelnelson3531]

@selanryn5849 ah thanks. I misremembered.

[@hellomjb]

​@@rachaelnelson3531 Someone that admits when they were wrong??? You are a class act and we deserve more like you in these comment sections!

[@rachaelnelson3531]

@hellomjb 🤣🤣 I can pitch a meme-worthy fit instead of you'd like! But really what's the point in digging my heels in? I was wrong, that's life!

[@hellomjb]

@@rachaelnelson3531 Well that could be entertaining too! Haha

[@ryannimmert7059]

10 MONTHS until the final corpse was removed? if I were that family im suing EVERYBODY

[@BrightSunFilms]

And they defiantly are

[@JermaineDotT]

@@BrightSunFilms Good, I was there in January 2020 and have pictures of the building where it looks like it could have collapsed the day before. I had no idea until now that there were bodies still in there at that time.

[@mindwarp42]

... this was a highrise being built after 9/11 in a city that has dealt with major hurricanes. Being a native New Yorker who now lives in a historic city in the South that also has to deal with severe tropical weather, the fact that so much was wrong about the design and construction of that building, including lack of proper trained code inspectors/enforcers, is appalling. I can only pray that somehow everyone involved does finally get punished for this...

[@user-rz9rq7pp2b]

What does 9/11 have to do with this?

[@mineown1861]

Kailas shouldn't be given any permit . The developers having proven themselves to be incompetent at best , or alternatively, criminally negligent , it would be similarly negligent on the city's part to allow them to build any bigger than a kennel. The most likely culprit for such a collapse , is the egregious violation of codes and standards , maximising profit at the cost of everything else , a cost that included the lives of three workers .

[@John_Narayan]

Bring in the third world and you will have the third world!

[@mattus1gig]

You always know when no charges brought, it’s always the people in charge that are in the wrong!

[@abayifo]

The rich got away with it, and the little people paid for it, just like everything else. What is remembered, lives. Thank you for another awesome video!

[@ChatGPT1111]

More like the politicians got away with it, for insisting on equity and diversity over engineering and skills, in both government jobs, inspection and finally, in the site workers.

[@ezragonzalez8936]

They were all part of the problem they knew they where building a dangerous turd!

[@Dedfaction]

@@ezragonzalez8936 but it was 99% the rich people's fault.

[@arribaficationwineho32]

Undocumented worker so no one cared. Obviously

[@ezragonzalez8936]

@@arribaficationwineho32 You should consider applying for a visa. I believe the requirements include learning basic English. Good luck my boy!🤣😂😆

[@kaylakade7279]

Native here ❤ I remember the Saturday that the building fell. I was at my job on Poydras (about 5 blocks give or take) and heard the collapse then the sirens. Back then (I’d take street car to a bus to head home), the entire area was blocked off. The whole tragedy really left a bad taste in our mouths because of how it was handled. I want to say it happened in October/November & by Mardi Gras a body was still in the half collapsed structure. I moved to Seattle in late 2020 & literally the last time I was home the building was still half collapsed. R.i.p to the construction workers, it’s really & heartbreaking ..

[@edwinsalisbury83]

I remember being in school at the time and it was history class and all of sudden a teacher came running into the room and said that there had been a building collapse. It killed multiple people and disabled a streetcar line. My heart goes out to those families who were impacted.

[@flaagan]

The developers need to be stripped of ownership of the property. When it all comes down to it, it was their greed and incompetence that resulted in the deaths and injuries. Their arrogance in the face of criticism shows a distinct lack of caring or concern for who they hurt.

[@eustatic3832]

Kailas make a lot of political donations

[@mpoulin]

I was visiting New Orleans when this happened. In fact, I was staying at a hostel that was in the same block as that building and we were not allowed to enter our building. Eventually they briefly let me in to gather my belongings and some belongings of others. It was crazy.

[@bryduhbikeguy]

It was nice of them to compensate you with some extras then ;)

[@DamarcusChlorine]

The fact nobody is being held accountable is absolutely horrible

[@MrHusang23]

This CORRUPTION. Not negligence and "dropping the ball", it's CORRUPTION. But the most interesting thing is, how do people know, when they have to film the building?

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

You can hear it when concrete and steel starts to give way

[@MAAngeloJr]

You have done a few videos that were based on something in New Orleans and I can tell you that you do a tremendous job of painting the picture for those that are not from here nor have heard about the miscellaneous "mishaps" in the Big Easy. Please keep doing more because there is a litany of stuff you can document on from this city alone.

[@R32R38]

Either the state or federal government should appoint a special prosecutor to reopen the case and hopefully bring criminal charges.

[@pegcity4eva]

Hunter Biden and Maxine Waters can be in Charge.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

Oddly enough the feds already had an investigation going on about corruption within the building inspectors department. They snagged a bully in the mechanical division as well as a big shot in a suburban city. The bully was good buddies with the big shot in the New Orleans building dept. He ( Z.S.) remained as the power behind the figurehead attorney placed atop the building inspectors. Now ZS is a consultant on how to remake the corrupt department he once headed.

[@Happymali10]

I'm watching this a few days after my hometown here in Germany had a catastrophic scaffolding-collapse at a construction site, which killed several workers. Turns out corners had been cut at that site, too, like skipping....collapse and fall-protection requirements.

[@sdlausen1]

Wish you dove more into the contractor hired to build the building - Citadel Builders. The corruption just within that company and what happened is unreal. You should do another episode just on that.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

Good on you for this. Appreciate you.

[@TheJustin99]

I know this wasn't a cancelled project, but I think a video from you on the Surfside Condo collapse in 2021 would be fantastic. You have a great way of telling stories

[@kaitlinf3252]

Yes!! Another heartbreaking & avoidable tragedy 💔 BSF would have a great take on the story behind it, hopefully he sees your comment & follows through!

[@stratcat4450]

@TheJustin99 I actually just watched an update video this morning by youtuber Jeffostroff. He is way more focused on the technical side of the condo collapse than the storytelling part, but has covered this tragedy in great detail since it happened. Being a Floridian I really appreciate his work. This type of incompetence occurs here all the time too. I have worked on Construction sites myself where the local inspectors have turned a blind eye to violations. We once decades ago had an entire condo under construction collapse here killing many workers ONLY to be rebuilt, an occupied to this day! With our bloated real estate prices here I can't imagine what those units might cost these days.

[@weedwacker1716]

"Shocking" "Incompetent" That's New Orleans in a nutshell. You only left out "Corrupt" perhaps for legal reasons, so I'll put that in for you.

[@Clay3613]

The loss of those two historic buildings in the biggest tragedy here for me.

[@emeryking1739]

I drove past it in a bus when I was on holiday and the driver told us there were still bodies in there that they hadn't been able to retrieve yet, it was upsetting.

[@megm2824]

I remember seeing this. Criminal charges should have been against both the developer(s) as well as the city. Both in my opinion are liable for all the injuries and deaths that had occurred. Also in my opinion, both the city and the developer(s) should have to pay compensation to those who were injured due to this incident as well as pay compensation to those three people who lost their lives because of this. I am not saying that money will bring everything back; I am saying that their needs to be some kind of justice made to those who suffered (those who were injured and to the families in which those three people lost their lives). The only people who got out scots free was the city and the developer(s). I also feel that all of those at city hall who directly were involved with this project should be fired and not be allowed to have a government job again. And the developer(s) should have their business license revoked permanently.

[@teresaortiz2027]

THANK YOU for doing this. I remember the whole situation. I married a construction worker and because of this event I have been more aware of how dangerous his job is. He says constantly how sad it is the cheap materials used on million dollar jobs, all to put money in the developer's pockets. I am a big fan of traveling to NOLA and a Hard Rock property fan. I was looking forward to the tourism the hotel would bring to the city. So sad.

[@heatherm00ch]

I was staying at the Hostel International directly across the street just 2 days before the hotel collapsed. I had walked past the structure multiple times a day. I had friends who were still at the hostel who called me to let me know what happened. When I learned about the conditions the workers went through, I was so baffled that the project managers cared so little for human life.

[@teeayyyyyy]

Thank you for talking about this! Those victims deserve so much better.

[@kyleanuar9090]

Construction guy friend say city inspector usually don't even get out of their car, just wind down the window and receive the envelope with cash .

[@stephensmith7887]

No taking the inspector out to the local gin mill for a liquid lunch first?

[@fireshorts5789]

Every time I watch a video on a disaster like this, I predict that nobody will be held accountable (or at least not the people at the top who should be) and I'm almost always right. It frustrates the hell out of me how predictable that is. I have a feeling there were cash envelopes in various people's pockets that never got found out about, too many convenient coincidences.

[@purposly]

This is why we need e-verify nationwide and for it to be enforced. The fact that Kailas is able to exploit undocumented workers and put them in dangerous work places like this is a catastrophe.

[@__taylor__]

I just resigned from my job at a government agency based out of New Orleans…. I had never stepped foot in this city until September 2019. Then, I began visiting friends regularly and eventually commuting every so often for work starting in 2022. THIS VIDEO just validated everything I’ve needed to be confirmed back to me. I cannot believe now has been the first time I’ve looked back on the past 4 years to question the bizarre things I have experienced…. and ALL OF THEM have this city in common. There is such a huge lack of accountability here it’s unbelievable. Thank you for posting this. It’s sort of synchronistic, because I first saw your channel looking up the amusement park video after I drove by it heading to work.

[@claireb210]

My dad does commercial construction in New Orleans and as soon as I heard about the collapse I called him- I didn’t know if that was his job. He picked up, he was at a different place on the same street. Said they watched the building collapse from their job site and they were just in awe. Horrible thing to happen.

[@fedricojgarza464]

I'm glad your dad is ok most be pretty scary 😨

[@venaben3496]

Oh wow I was there in New Orleans the day that the building collapsed. We could see it from the highway. Crazy times.

[@josephschmoe3796]

The level of corruption in that city is reported to be incredible. How many omissions and mistakes were actually the result of payoffs and no-show jobs? We will never know.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

Well, for no-show jobs, there was one mostly no-show. Everyone else was just lazy, incompetent, crooked and uncaring. It's the Old Confederacy and that attitude is still in play here.

[@lemerbrix1375]

I was actually in New Orleans the month of the disaster, I had heard about a collapse, and something about a street being closed, feels good to get more context!

[@TotoDG]

The Wienermobile in the top left corner at 3:22 has to be the most random and unexpected cameo imaginable.

[@too2great8]

It was completely shameful and appalling. Everyone is at fault, and all they did was pass the buck while the families of the people who died are in absolute shambles. Smh! Profit over people.

[@jkumpol]

Being a former Louisiana resident it doesn’t surprise me no one was held accountable. One of the things they teach you about Louisiana history is how corrupt the politicians are and how incompetent the leaders are. Very sad

[@jhfdhgvnbjm75]

Sounds like the only one who didn't drop the ball was the lead investigator...and got clobbered for it.

[@PrincessSapphireSpirit24]

Always a bright day when BSF gifts us with a new episode ❤

[@BrightSunFilms]

Thanks!!

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

@@BrightSunFilms the designers who put this forward the company and the inspectors all need to be jailed for manslaughter! A joke like this should not be happening in the usa which is at the top end of undeveloped countires!

[@christinerapp33]

Watching any film that BSF releases is always the highlight of my week! Such thorough research is done for all of the videos, and a meticulous attention to detail always shows in the finished product. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for all of the work that gets put into each episode. As always, kudos to you, Jake, and your team for putting out such outstanding and entertaining content!

[@OutdoorsWithShawn]

As "bad" as New Orleans has gotten since Katrina, I'm surprised anyone would propose a hotel of this size. Makes me wonder how it would have turned out, in the long run, had it not collapsed.

[@valeriepark9444]

Exactly! The entire time I kept thinking, "if it hadn't collapsed during construction, it would have collapsed at SOME point, possibly after residents, guests, and workers started moving in.

[@Sashazur]

@@valeriepark9444I think the original comment was more about whether the hotel could have stayed in business, not if it could have stayed standing.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

Eventually the city hall clowns had to cut back on the rapacious AirBnB'ers. They have now and the occupancy rate is high enough again to support this project -- especially at this location.

[@killercaos123]

Meanwhile in Seattle has gotten it’s Hard Rock Cafe, it failed, and has already closed up.

[@kaymillerfromTX]

I was there a couple weeks before too. Was happy to see new development and the new streetcar line open up which is closed due to the collapse of the hard rock. So sad all around. RIP

[@jistone7851]

Really upsetting to see this happening in New Orleans, not that any town deserves this but New Orleans particularly copping it here

[@AngeloGiles]

This is wild. Thank you for covering this Jake, the amount of corners cut during the whole construction is crazy. On top of that they still had a deceased body in the building for months, this whole thing could’ve been avoided.

[@cactus22minus1]

It's not an accident when there is THIS MUCH negligence. With so many people in this country against regulation or any oversight from government, believing it to be inherently evil etc.. it's hard to imagine how we can prevent ridiculous disasters like this unless we get punitive action... but we didn't even get that this time around.

[@StewartLucrative]

No one is against oversight and regulation for building engineering. If there are any people against that it's very few and far between.

[@alancornwall5589]

As a construction worker this kind of crap scares the shit out of me.

[@jamesdutch9431]

So sad, RIP to the lives lost. Love and appreciate your work.

[@Snicketbar]

I remember following this when it first happened. If you look into it, there's a lot of things that don't add up that. Indicating there was a lot of palm greasing to ensure this whole matter just went away.

[@rppope1006]

Could you guide me to some quality places to look

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

@@rppope1006. I could, I used to work in city hall.😊

[@shadowred1980]

I'd not heard of this before. Thank you for telling people about it.

[@MS-37]

It’s so sad that a city like New Orleans is so poorly controlled.

[@Devinn504]

It’s sad that we’re in the shitty red state

[@vitaAutLetum]

No accountability seems to be the status quo in New Orleans.

[@joshmnky]

Ah, New Orleans. I have a friend who worked as an engineer there for a little while. I remember him telling me about the time his project manager's husband caught a stray bullet to the head while driving past a domestic dispute. Had his wallet stolen off his body before the police even got there. Stay classy Nola.

[@aliciahefner8581]

Wow the level that this went wrong on is crazy! I can't believe so many people allowed so much to go wrong. Great documentary and RIP to the poor workers who passed.

[@3sons66]

EXACTLY at 14:09...WHO were the city inspectors? Wow. OSHA, city inspectors, Project Managers, everyone dropped the ball on this one. Can you imagine if it ever was completed and crumbled with 100's of people inside??? $$$$$$$$$$ talks. There were definitely payoffs over this.

[@andronicusmaximus2355]

When I heard the intro about constructing a hotel in 2019, I just assumed it was abandoned during the pandemic. This was much, much worse. Amazing that nobody was charged for such gross negligence.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

The feds knew of and were investigating the easy to prove corruption. And brought a abbreviated set of charges against one assistant division head. The lazy lying inspectors for the concrete here are good friends with ZS who was the big shot building official. ZS is now a consultant on how to improve the system he allowed to get this way. The feds definitely did not charge as many as they could have. And definitively let some racial discrimination and obvious civil rights violation continue. Maybe the Feds let the city have their files but that's only a 50/50 chance they did.

[@nunyabizznizz7326]

i absolutely love this channel......another great vid, RIP to the workers

[@BrightSunFilms]

Thank you very much

[@leokimvideo]

In Sydney this exact same cheapening of steel used in high rise buildings has seen many apartment towers be deemed too dangerous to live in. All this is linked to greedy developers who care more about profits than the code building standards. A deregulated building inspection regime only amplified the problems and the icing on the cake is the importation of substandard building materials from China. It's classic three strikes and you're out syndrome. I never knew about this Hard Rock Cafe collapse, mustn't have been international news.

[@grizchicago]

So glad you covered this story. There were so many red flags that were blatantly disregarded. A horrible failure by the City, it's inspectors and the developers.

[@LeninWasRight96]

Ahh man I work at the hostel right across the street. I’m literally staring at what remains while watching this.

[@BrightSunFilms]

Damn.

[@Wnick1996]

Kind of surreal to see Hard Rock trying to co-open a hotel in The Big Easy, only for it to fall apart like that. Very interesting and kind of surreal, especially since you were in the area before it happened

[@drcdrdoct9864]

This is about the most New Orleans thing that could happen. Incompetence mixed with corruption mixed with greed are what New Orleans lives for.

[@vest816]

Imagine looking at the grimy crumbling facade of the New Orleans city hall, and thinking "yep, here's the people in charge of building regulations."

[@RomnilWater]

My friends and I visited New Orleans about 3 months before the collapse. Our hotel was literally just a building down from the Hard Rock Hotel and we could see the construction workers working on it from our window. As a tourist I didn't know the history of the site (which is very interesting) but it was a little shocking a few months later to see videos of the building going down.

[@ladywunderkind9390]

Why is Kailas allowed to keep the property? What's stopping them from being so careless and doing this again? Imagine if the structure had held up long enough to be finished and opened, how many more lives need to be taken to put these people in prison?

[@Blur4strike]

Unfortunately, money from them talks. That company seems to have some pretty deep pockets with the number of city officials of New Orleans they paid off.

[@Atlridesharejay]

The Woolworth sit-ins began in February 1960 in Greensboro NC. The sit in at the New Orleans Woolworth wasn't until September that year, after many others.

[@ctadam12]

WOW! NOLA City Hall needs it's own neglect documentary 😳

[@papabear562]

Wow, nice work! But I'd be watching my back now. No telling who might be coming after you for exposing all the ways this project fell criminally short.

[@jamesdorrell9134]

Hi Jake I remember you said you read all comments, so I'd love to suggest a video. In my city, there is a building called the Point, Milton Keynes. It is one of the oldest buildings here and despite not being that old, holds a special place in many people's hearts. Sadly, its been abandoned for the last decade or so, and has recent been announced to be knocked down. Love all your videos, James 😊

[@MZ-bl6wg]

As an Architect I am completely dumbfounded how it got to where it was and how NOONE was found criminally responsible!??

[@MATRYOSKA6]

So many historical buildings destroyed for this monstrosity to kill 3 people

[@SonicBoone56]

As somebody born and raised less than hour from NOLA, it's not surprising that this happened. Whereas Mississippi is a state without any drive to improve, Louisiana is a state that goes 1 step forward and 5 steps backwards. A lot of things wrong with it are self-inflicted and the solutions are often obvious, but corruption and misinformation gets in the way of ever fixing it. It took Louisiana nearly 100 years to convince the US Army Corps of Engineers to allow a single diversion off the Mississippi River to help restore wetlands. And that was only because international attention was brought to it. A lot of stuff has gone from wanting to build in NOLA to wanting to build in Gulfport and Biloxi in Mississippi because of the ridiculous failure of Louisiana's government to fix even the most basic issues.

[@AppalachianHistoryDetectives]

I’m an Architect and can tell you these changes were done by an Architect and should be held accountable. TheEngineering was changed because the Architect insisted on the ceiling height. Also the gauge of the decking is an Architects call. There is where I would start the legal process.

[@darthcaro]

agreed, it seems pretty obvious that they should start with the architect who would know better, yet designed a crappy structure.

[@ronzombie6541]

Engineers have to spec out the work ergo the term structural engineer. Whomever pushed for the cost savings would be a good starting point but ultimately engineering has to verify/confirm viability of changes and sign off on it.

[@stephensmith7887]

Architects are not engineers. It is NOT the architect's decision to determine anything structural, and the steel decking is structural. They are not qualified for that. Architects have no authority to overrule an engineer.

[@stephensmith7887]

@@darthcaro Architects do not know better. That's why there are structural engineers. There is a huge difference between the two professions.

[@tim3172]

An architect (lower-case) who can barely string a sentence together and spends their time making videos pretending that Appalachia is relevant? (What?)

[@roberta4989]

Great work. Jake, I appreciate the effort and creativity you used to bring this to light.

[@BrightSunFilms]

I appreciate that! Thanks for watching

[@Zig_Was_Here]

Always great content! Thanks! Love my Nebula too!

[@exploringsydneyandbeyond9059]

A sad and tragic outcome - particularly with lives lost and many hurt , but what an incredible documentary with so much information delivered exceptionally well , I really enjoy watching and learning with every video - Thankyou for bringing this to us all .

[@MrRedtaco11]

This could have been prevented. The fact that people who should have been responsible got away with it because they were finger pointing. A person gets in trouble for Jay walking but a building collapses, people die and nothing is done. It’s disgusting. It’s a two tiered system and it’s revolting.

[@SLagonia]

This is one of those odd moments where so many people made critical mistakes that it's impossible to pinpoint who was most at fault, and so no one gets held responsible.

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

Respectfully disagree. This city (and state) has so many crooked politicians, and their schemes intertwine so much that they protect each other in some perverse honor among thieves manner. There were maybe six or eight inspectors caught lying about what they inspected. How do we know? The tv stations got FOIA information on the inspector's GPS-equipped trucks. That's how ingrained the corruption was/is in the building inspection department; they lied about when/where they were knowing their trucks had active GPS devices. The division head I worked for had been there 32 years and when he started it was even more flagrant. 😊

[@sketchup.ketchup]

Ok, away from that topic. YOU'RE VIDEOS ARE AMAZING!! I'm on a binge. :D