MAY 7, 2015
A worker on a crew
building a luxury hotel in New York City was killed Tuesday when he fell 24
stories down an elevator shaft.
According to a report from the New York Daily News, 25-year-old Christian
Ginesi and one other worker were attempting to install an elevator
door frame at the Riu Hotel Times Square when their lift car stalled 5
feet above the landing of the 24th floor.
The paper reports
that the two men decided to jump from the stalled car to the landing. The other
worker made it safely, but when Ginesi attempted the jump, he lost his
footing and fell down the shaft.
Rescue workers
pulled him from the base of the shaft and rushed him to the hospital. He was
pronounced dead about 45 minutes after the fall.
City officials
issued a stop work order after the incident and, “slapped the elevator
subcontractor, G-Tech Associates, with a Class 1 violation for failure to
safeguard workers,” the paper reports.
Falls are the number
one cause of death in the construction industry. The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration is encouraging contractors and construction firms to
participate in the upcoming fall prevention safety stand-down May 4-15.
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Worker dies after
falling 24 stories down elevator shaft at NYC hotel under construction: police
sources
Published: Tuesday,
May 5, 2015
A construction
worker fell 24 stories down an elevator shaft to his death Tuesday in a
half-built Manhattan luxury hotel.
The doomed worker,
identified by police sources as Christian Ginesi, and a colleague had been
installing elevator door frames when the car they were riding in suddenly
stalled five feet above the 24th floor landing.
Ginesi’s co-worker
was able to jump safely to the landing, according to city Buildings Department
report.
But when Ginesi
tried, he lost his footing and toppled backward down the shaft, the report
stated.
The worker who fell
down an elevator shaft at the Riu Hotel Times Square construction site was
pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. at Bellevue Hospital.
Ginesi fell around
12:40 p.m. and was pulled by rescue workers from the base of the shaft in the
unfinished building’s cellar about 20 minutes later, police said.
Witnesses said the
25-year-old Jersey City man was bleeding from the face as he was rushed to
Bellevue Hospital, where police said he died at 1:26 p.m.
“That’s not good,” a
shaken veteran construction worker said. “We were getting lunch. We try to be
safe, but things happen.”
The city issued an
immediate stop work order Tuesday at the hotel site and slapped the elevator
subcontractor, G-Tech Associates, with a Class 1 violation for failure to
safeguard workers.
Records show G-Tech
is run by Dominick Glenn and his son, Brock, neither of whom could be reached
for comment.
“They run a tight
ship and they do good work,” said a Manhattan contractor who has worked with
them before.
“They're nice guys,”
added a construction manager who also declined to give his name. “It’s a father
and son team, Brock and his father Dominick. I've had only good experiences
with them.”
The accident
happened at what will be the 600-room RIU-Hotel Times Square, a gleaming 29 to
31 story tower at 301 W. 46th St. near Eighth Ave.
The hotel is owned
by the Spanish hospitality firm Riu Hotels & Resorts, based on the island
of Mallorca, and was supposed to be built this summer.
This was not the
first time a worker fell at the site.
In July 2013, the
Buildings Department shut it down after answering a complaint about a worker
falling three stories.
Inspectors found
floor openings without the required railings and cited the owner for unsafe
work conditions.
The DOB did not
divulge how badly hurt the worker was.
Construction resumed
a few days later. But in May 2014 and then again in September of that year,
inspectors found more unsafe conditions — scaffolding without the proper
support, and a worker without the proper safety training certification from
OSHA.
The Rinaldi Group
LLC, which is the general contractor, has since defaulted on answering two
violations and paying $16,000 and fines, records show.
"They’re
cooperating with authorities and their heart goes out to the family,"
Bradley Gerstman, an attorney for The Rinaldi Group, insisted.