Brooklyn roof collapse injures 6

From the Daily News:

Six construction workers were hurt, two seriously, when a load of cinderblocks sparked a partial collapse at a Brooklyn building Tuesday morning, officials said.

The half dozen hardhats suffered head, arm and chest injuries when the roof of the Crown Heights building gave out from under them about 9:45 a.m.

One construction worker suffered a compound fracture to his left leg and needed to be carried out of the building, a source said.

“A concentrated load of cinderblocks was placed on the roof level in a concentrated area and it was too much weight,” said FDNY Brooklyn Borough Commander Assistant Chief Dwayne Cartwright. “It collapsed into the basement.”

Hassan chopped!

From DNA Info:

The city has suspended the contractor and superintendent in charge of a work site where a construction collapse last week trapped and seriously injured three workers, officials announced Wednesday.

Ideal Builders and Construction and its superintendent Fazal Hassan were suspended following the June 20 incident at 31-25 28th Road, where the Department of Buildings accused the company of "cutting corners" while building a third-story addition on an existing home.

Officials say Hassan allowed crews to "improperly" load cinder blocks and other heavy equipment onto the newly built third floor, which wasn't stable enough to support the weight.

The floor collapsed, sending the materials crashing through the building's second and first floors, trapping and critically injuring three construction workers, including one man who was pinned under the debris for nearly two hours.

Officials say Hassan — the construction superintendent at the site, as well as at 10 other projects in the city — should have first had an engineer assess the third floor to make sure it was structurally sound.

The DOB is in the process of shutting down work at more than 60 construction sites that Hassan is associated with, according to a spokesman.

Boarded-up Woodhaven house broken into

From the Times Ledger:

  A long-abandoned Woodhaven house with a brutal murder in its history was finally sealed by the city — almost. 

 Officials from the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development boarded up the doors and windows last week after neighbors complained of shady characters going in and out of the house, at 87-19 90th St. But hours after officials secured the residence and left the property, neighbors said the squatters returned and kicked down a freshly installed cinder block wall at a back entrance before the cement dried.

 “Neighbors heard the young men come back shouting, cursing and bemoaning that it had been sealed,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Block Association. “The next thing they heard was a giant crash. Cinder blocks are good, but not when the cement is still wet.”

Another avoidable death at construction site

From WPIX:

Investigators are focusing on a delivery of cinderblocks as being the cause of a steel roof collapse at a Fort Greene construction site.

Officials say a 67 year old worker died, after falling 40 feet to basement. It happened around 9 this morning before work even started on the site.

"It was clear the floor the blocks were delivered on were not structurally stable and could not handle the load," said Department of Buildings commissioner, Robert LiMandari.

Officials say five workers were on the interior roof of the half built building when the blocks were delivered. Without warning, the roof caved in. Three workers jumped to an adjoining building. A second worker who fell to the basement is recovering from his injuries at Kings County hospital.