At least three people were injured and one killed on Thursday, July 16 in a scaffolding accident in New York City.
The New York Daily News reports that a section of parapet fell off a 12-story building in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood, taking debris, including metal and rock, down with it and slamming into a rig that held two construction workers. The rig then collided with the scaffolding below.
The accident is currently under investigation, though a statement to NY Daily from building resident Randy Kronish suggests a poorly maintained building could have been a factor. At the time of the accident, workers were restoring the building’s facade.
“They should have done something about the roof a long time ago,” Kronish told New York Daily News. “The building was in bad shape.”
Councilmember Ben Kallos echoed those sentiments in a statement to the ABC7 news channel: “We cannot keep watching bricks fall, scaffolding collapse, injuring and killing New Yorkers. These bricks should never have been allowed to deteriorate to the point that they fell and the scaffolding should never have collapsed.”
For New Yorkers, scaffolding is a common sight around the city, with literally thousands of construction projects underway on any given day. The city, building owners, and construction companies are all responsible for adhering to regulations and ordinances to keep these construction sites safe and avoid catastrophic accidents like the one on Thursday. Yet so often we see companies cutting corners or basic maintenance of buildings being delayed. In a city of over 8 million people, this is unacceptable. New Yorkers have the right to feel safe in their city, whether inside their apartments or when stepping out to run an errand or get a breath of fresh air.
KDLM fights relentlessly for victims of scaffolding and construction accidents, bringing those affected the compensation they deserve. For example, we recovered $25 million for a 55-year-old Westchester man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a structure on which he was standing collapsed during a demolition and construction project. KDLM obtained a finding of liability as a matter of law against the owner of the property under New York’s “scaffolding law.”
If you have suffered an injury because of carelessness or negligence on a construction or scaffolding site, please reach out to us today to discuss your case.