Woman killed by plywood blown off building in Flushing

NY Post

A flying piece of signage from a Queens produce market struck and killed a 67-year-old Long Island woman Thursday morning, police said.

The woman, identified by police as Xiang Ji of Westbury, was walking outside 41-28 Main St. in Flushing about 9:45 a.m. when she was struck by what city building officials described as “an aluminum-covered plywood panel.”

The panel was part of a vertical sign that authorities believe was blown off the building’s roof by gusting winds.

Firefighters later removed the remainder of the sign.

Police from the 109th Precinct said cops responded to several 911 calls from the scene and found Ji “unconscious and unresponsive.”

She was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital, where she was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Building department investigators were dispatched to the scene and issued the property owners a violation for “failure to maintain building in a code compliant manner.”

“Following our full investigation, we will take aggressive enforcement actions against responsible parties as warranted,” the officials said in a statement. “We have ordered the owners to immediately erect a sidewalk shed around the building.”

The owners of the building, Kam Kee Realty Inc., have 18 open violations at the site, including for illegal work without a permit and “unpermitted business signs,” building officials said. The company could not be reached for comment Thursday.