Saturday, December 26, 2009

Construction worker survives 8 story fall

By Jeff Wilkins and John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

It was the miracle on ... Eighth Ave.

A lucky hardhat remarkably survived an eight-story plunge in Manhattan Thursday after a scaffolding plank snapped underneath him, officials and co-workers said.

Jose Paulino, 29, plummeted from the 16th floor of a Garment District building on Eighth Ave. at 38th St. - but cheated death when he landed on his back on scaffolding eight floors below, police and a Buildings Department official said.

Paulino was conscious and had feeling in all limbs when emergency responders arrived and rushed him to St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, fellow hardhats at the scene told the Daily News.

Workers had previously performed facade repair on the 20-story building at 580 Eighth Ave., said Buildings Department spokeswoman Carly Sullivan.

The accident happened about 2 p.m. as "workers were in the process of dismantling the scaffolding," Sullivan said.

Paulino stepped onto the plank shortly before it gave way, co-workers said.

The general contractor, Dry New York, Inc., was immediately forced to halt work at the site, Sullivan said. The company did not return a call for comment Thursday night.

Paulino was in stable condition at St. Vincent's last night, a police source said, but the extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.

His family and friends, some in tears, huddled in the emergency room last night, but refused to comment.

As of Thursday, the building had 47 open violations, according to the Buildings Department Web site.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is why I try not to walk under scaffolding if anyone is working on it. they are really sloppy, throwing metal planks down onto the street with out bothering to look if anyone is under them on the sidewalk or street.

I wonder if he has health insurance and if we are paying the medical bills of another illegal alien.

It doesn't say if this is a union job, but I doubt it is.

How come the reporter didn't tell us he is an illegal alien? It seems there is a news black out on this.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if he had a O.S.H.A. scaffle users course or if he was tied off? Sounds non-union and I smell an illeagal..... I have yet to hear this dude speak, he probably can't speak English! I am sure a shark lawyer will be in touch with him. Too bad he wont get anything, being he did follow safety rules.