Construction worker dies in fall at Upper East Side construction site
Posted 12:58 PM, December 23, 2016, by Aliza Chasan, Updated at 03:54PM, December 23, 2016
A 30-year-old construction worker died after falling down an elevator shaft at the construction site. (Google)
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan — A construction worker plunged down an elevator shaft and died from his injuries Friday morning, police officials said.
The 30-year-old construction worker fell down the elevator shaft from the third floor of the building at East 87th and Lexington Avenue, an NYPD spokesperson said.
However, officials from the Department of Buildings say it isn’t clear that the man fell down an elevator shaft. They are investigating the construction worker’s death as a fall, but not as an elevator shaft fall.
The construction worker was found unconscious and unresponsive in the basement of the building, police officials said. He was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital where he died shortly after 10 a.m.
The Department of Buildings has released a full work stop order while they investigate, a spokesperson for the department said.
Police have not released the man’s name.
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Worker Dies After Falling at Upper East Side Construction Site, Police Say
By Camille Bautista and Trevor Kapp | December 23, 2016 2:09pm
A 30-year-old construction worker fell to his death Friday morning at a construction site on 87th Street near Lexington Avenue, police said. DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp
UPPER EAST SIDE — A 30-year-old construction worker died Friday morning after falling more than three stories down an elevator shaft at an Upper East Side site, police said.
The man was on the third floor of 152 East 87th St. near Lexington Avenue around 9:20 a.m. when he plunged to the basement, an NYPD spokesman said.
The worker, whose name was not immediately released by officials, suffered head trauma. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The city’s Department of Buildings placed a full stop-work order at the site after the fall, officials said. The property is expected to house a 19-story luxury apartment tower.
The DOB is investigating the incident as a worker-fall incident and it does not appear to be elevator related, sources said.
The victim was employed by Highbury Construction, a subcontractor for the Noble Construction Group, which is heading the project, according to police.
The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Highbury Construction of Bronxville $4,900 in 2014 for not meeting fall protection standards at a site in Boerum Hill, records show.
Similarly, OSHA fined Noble Construction Group $3,500 in March for not meeting fall protection standards at one of its Flushing sites, according to records.
Noble Construction Group and Highbury Concrete released a joint statement on Friday afternoon, saying that everyone involved in the project is "deeply saddened by today’s event and extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and co-workers."
"We are working closely with all parties to determine the cause of the accident and will provide any assistance requested by investigators,” the company said.
Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, called on city officials and agencies to address construction worker fatalities.
"Today, two days before Christmas, we mourn yet another tragic fatality on a construction site in New York City. How many more workers must die before the city takes decisive action to end this travesty?" LaBarbera said.
"How many more families must be destroyed by the actions of careless developers and contractors?"