Wednesday, November 23, 2016

2 workers die on Briarwood construction project


From Eyewitness News:

Two construction workers were killed after a steel beam fell on top of a crane's operator cab in Queens Tuesday.

It happened just after 12 p.m. near the intersection of 82nd Avenue and 134th Street in the Briarwood section, close to where the Van Wyck Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway intersect.

Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said the 6,500-pound beam dropped from the fourth floor of the building onto the crane.

Chandler said it appears the rigging rope may have failed while the beam was being lifted, causing the piece of steel to break loose and fall to the ground. Though, the investigation is still ongoing. Wind does not appear to be a factor in the accident.

"It was a 6,500-pound beam going up four stories. I would say the wind would not have a major factor on that," said Chandler.

The workers killed were identified as flag man Alessandro Ramos, 43, and crane operator George Smith, 47. Both were trapped in the wreckage and died at the scene.


Crains reports that this isn't the first work-related death for the contractor.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even money says they were un-trained, non-union workers.

Anonymous said...

But since this happened in Queens, the media will drop the story in about 2 days. The crane accident in Manhattan last year was in the news for weeks. And what do our local electeds have to say about these endless accidents occurring in their over developing Queens neighborhoods? Crickets...

JQ LLC said...

"While OSHA cited CRV Precast for the 2015 death of the worker, the fatality was not investigated by either the city Department of Buildings, which does not consider health and safety violations to be within its purview, or the Department of Investigation, which said the death was in OSHA's jurisdiction. The inter-agency Construction Fraud Task Force led by District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office does not comprehensively track city construction deaths."

I guess there won't be a NYC DOB command post truck there.

https://impunitycity.wordpress.com/2016/11/22/nyc-department-of-buildings-office-has-an-rv/

Anonymous said...

Under cautious....over rushing.....no matter....just poor LatinosCollateral damage for REBY NYC.

Anonymous said...

Your local Electeds will say "It's vibrant & diverse"...

Anonymous said...

Every construction accident is investigated. Osha is responsible for worker's safety no matter what the employer the NYC dept. of buildings enforces the public and property safety, not very difficult to comprehend.

Anonymous said...

WOW...pretty callous remarks considering you don't know anything about the men who died two days before Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Well done DoB. Great job.

JQ LLC said...

"Osha is responsible for worker's safety no matter what the employer the NYC dept. of buildings enforces the public and property safety, not very difficult to comprehend."

I was making a joke about the DOB's truck (and plugging my hardly read blog), I didn't infer that they should have more responsibility, even though they should.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20160914/POLITICS/160919954/de-blasio-brushes-off-incomplete-count-of-construction-deaths

And apparently, thanks to creative legalese, they never have to.

Anonymous said...

One of the reasons the white population in this country is declining - they are being out competed with people who would work for less, who live in poverty, and work under often dangerous conditions unacceptable to most.

In other words, the living standards of 1916 instead of 2016.

Non-immigrant native-born Americans cannot compete against 3rd world conditions, and therefor cannot earn enough money for starting or raising families, are forced to get married later, if at all, and have fewer kids.

Thanks Democrats. So much for our trust in you.

Anonymous said...

Working high steel in 40MPH+ wind gusts the sight should have been shut down.
Where was the inspector, who signed off on this and who also signed off on this the crane to operate that day ? How much $$ bag money was paid off ? Some people belong in jail right now including the sick mayor fast tracking all this bullshit and ordering inspectors to turn a blind eye and rubber stamp permits !! !!

To add a 6+ story box doesn't belong in that neighborhood. It not only looks like shit but its over 60 feet to reach bedrock what is it floating on dirt ?

Anonymous said...

Osha cant do shit on a non union private contractor jobsite.. They have no agreement or authority. That why the mayor loves to rubber stamp this "slop up" box pre-fab computer design construction bullshit.
We have no more talented architects and drafting boards, dopes enter data on costs, stock cheap material's to be used and maximum SQ feet. The computers & software decides the cheapest building construction costs using least amount of cuts, labor and waste!! Even the friggan window glass !!
This shitty nasty ugly CAD box designing should be illegal !!!