KIPS BAY, Manhattan (WABC) --
An elevator repairman, Jucong Wu, 33, fell to his death in an elevator shaft in Kips Bay Tuesday morning.
It happened inside 111 E. 24th Street just after 9 a.m.
The 33-year-old man was trying to repair the elevator at a construction site when he lost his balance and inadvertently fell from the ninth floor.
He was apparently installing an elevator car at a new, 12-story hotel project and was not tied off to a fall-protection safety line.
The worker was employed by U-Tek Elevator, Inc.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
About 20 complaints had been registered against the building in the past year, but none are currently open.
The Department of Buildings has issued a full stop-work order for the site.
The NYPD and DOB are investigating his death.
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Manhattan construction worker dies after fall down elevator shaft, FDNY says
By Nicole Brown nicole.brown@amny.com
January 23, 2018
A construction worker died after falling down an elevator shaft at a building in the Flatiron District Tuesday morning, police said.
Jucong Wu, 33, was installing an elevator car on the ninth floor of 111 East 24th St., between Park and Lexington avenues, at about 8:50 a.m. when he fell, according to police.
He was found unconscious at the bottom of the shaft and pronounced dead at the scene, the FDNY and NYPD said.
Wu, who was employed by U-Tek Elevator Inc., was not tied to a safety line, the Department of Buildings said.
The building, owned by SCIPM East 24 LLC, is slated to be a 12-story hotel.
Multiple people, possibly members of Wu’s family, were crying at the scene after his body was removed from the building.
Workers at nearby construction sites carried on with their jobs as NYPD and DOB officials investigated.
The DOB issued a full stop work order for the site, which did not have any open violations as of Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. Trinity Builders Inc., the building’s general contractor, was issued more than 20 violations for the site in the past two years that have since closed, according to DOB records.
There were also multiple complaints about unsafe conditions at the site, including workers not using safety straps, in 2017, DOB records show.
U-Tek Elevator Inc. and Trinity Builders Inc. did not immediately comment. SCIPM East 24 LLC declined to comment.
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A 33-year-old construction worker died at a job site in Manhattan after tumbling nine stories in an elevator shaft, officials said.
Ju Cong Wu wasn’t attached to a safety line when he plummeted nearly 100 feet just before 9 a.m. at the E. 24th St. site near Park Ave. in Gramercy Park.
The Brooklyn man, who worked for U-Tek Elevator, died at the scene.
He was among a group of workers installing an elevator car in a new 12-story hotel project.
Workers emerged from the jobsite weeping.
“No one's telling us anything right now. We're just concerned for the worker,” said Joe, a foreman with Local 1 Elevator Constructors, who went to the site from another job.
He said the Gramercy construction site was non-union.
“I don't know what caused the accident, I wish I did,” he said. “No one’s telling us anything right now. What they’re probably going to do is try to hide up as much as possible.”
He added, “We're trying to get answers, see what happened, what caused this terrible freakin’ tragedy.”
Department of Buildings inspectors issued a stop-work order at the site as an investigation was launched.
The man plummeted to his death in an elevator shaft at a construction site on E. 24th St. near Park Ave. on Tuesday. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)
The construction site has been the subject of 17 other complaints to the Department of Buildings over the past year, records show.
In August, there were two safety complaints. In April, someone filed a complaint that said workers were not wearing safety equipment.
A complaint in March stated that debris was unsecured and flying off the building.
All of the prior complaints have been closed.
“We have no statement for now,” a U-Teck official said.
There were 12 construction deaths in 2017, officials said. The Tuesday morning death was the first in 2018.
Gary LaBarbara, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council, decried the death.
“Once again, a construction worker's life is tragically lost and a family is in mourning in New York City,” he said. “After a fatality last month and now another today, we are asking the City to immediately convene the Construction Safety Task Force that was part of legislation passed in the City Council last year and address this out of control epidemic.”