Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.
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dangerous-location-of-the-fatal-accident-in-ChinatownLegal options for families after the Chinatown tragedy involving an overdue Enterprise vehicle

The tragic crash that unfolded in Manhattan’s Chinatown last Saturday morning has left New Yorkers shaken—and two families in mourning. According to police and prosecutors, a stolen blue Chevy Malibu, overdue by 17 days from an Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was speeding through the streets when it struck and killed 63-year-old pedestrian May Kwok and 63-year-old cyclist Kevin Scott Cruickshank before crashing into an NYPD van.

The vehicle was reportedly filled with drugs, alcohol, and an illegal gun stashed in the trunk. Surveillance footage shows the horrifying moment the stolen vehicle mowed down the victims. The driver, Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, and passenger Kennedy Lecraft, 22, fled the scene but were caught shortly after and now face a long list of felony charges, including murdermanslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.

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construction workers must be protectedConstruction employers have a legal duty to provide a safe workplace under both federal OSHA regulations and state workplace safety laws. This duty includes taking reasonable steps to prevent heat illness by providing water, shade, rest breaks, training, and emergency response plans.

If your employer fails in these duties and you suffer a heat illness injury, you may be entitled to:

  • Workers’ Compensation Benefits: These benefits typically cover medical treatment costs, rehabilitation expenses, and a portion of lost wages. You generally cannot sue your employer outside of workers’ compensation, but benefits should adequately cover your injury-related losses.

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LIRR TrainFrom the Perspective of the New York Train Accident Attorneys at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf

A critical vulnerability in U.S. railroad braking systems—one that could allow a hacker to remotely stop or even derail a train—was recently disclosed by federal authorities, raising serious concerns about passenger safety and operational integrity across the nation’s railroads.

According to a July 10 advisory issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the flaw—tracked as CVE-2025-1727—affects the radio-based communication protocols used in end-of-train and head-of-train devices. These devices are crucial to sending braking commands from the front to the rear of the train. The vulnerability stems from weak authentication within the protocol, which means a hacker with basic radio hardware could potentially broadcast fraudulent signals capable of halting a moving train.

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Benito died in a police chase accidentQueens Tragedy Raises Questions About NYPD Pursuit Practices and Accountability

At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, our Queens car accident attorneys represent families whose lives have been shattered by high-speed police chases gone wrong. The recent death of 15-year-old Antonio “Anthony” Benitez—struck by an unlicensed driver during an NYPD pursuit in Queens—is the latest incident that underscores the dangers of police chases in densely populated neighborhoods.

According to the NYPD, the fatal incident began with a 911 call at 8:01 p.m. on Saturday reporting a knifepoint robbery outside a pharmacy on Hillside Avenue and 257th Street in Floral Park. Responding officers began canvassing the area and encountered a group of teens. One of them—Antonio—fled on an electric bike. Officers pursued him for over a mile until he was fatally struck by a Lexus driver who was allegedly unlicensed.

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location of the hit and run crashFrom the perspective of our Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyers

Two men are dead and a young driver is facing manslaughter charges after a brutal hit-and-run crash in Sunset Park early Friday morning. The victims, 80-year-old Kex Un Chen and 59-year-old Faqiu Lin, were crossing Third Avenue at 52nd Street when they were struck by a speeding BMW allegedly driven by 23-year-old Juventino Anastacio Florentino.

Florentino fled the scene, leaving behind twisted car parts, debris, and human remains at the crash site. He was arrested later that day at his Staten Island home, where police found the front end of his BMW soaked in blood and body matter. He is now facing multiple charges, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

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Accident sceneA tragic three-car crash in Co-op City, the Bronx, has once again highlighted the severe consequences of traffic collisions in New York City. According to the NYPD, the crash occurred around 5:25 p.m. on Bartow Avenue, near The Mall at Bay Plaza. The violent chain-reaction collision left one woman dead and six others—ranging in age from 11 to 79—hospitalized.

At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, our NYC city car accident lawyers are closely monitoring developments in this case. Our team of Bronx car accident lawyers has decades of experience representing victims of large-scale, multi-vehicle crashes across the borough. We understand the complexities these cases present—from unraveling conflicting witness accounts to identifying all potentially liable parties.

What Happened in Co-op City?

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NYC construction workers have a high risk of fatalitiesBy our New York Construction Accident Lawyers

As temperatures continue to rise during the summer months, construction workers face growing risks of heat-related illness and injury on the job. According to OSHA, employers are legally responsible for providing a workplace that is free of known safety and health hazards—including heat-related hazards. Failing to do so could result in serious harm to workers and legal liability for construction companies.

OSHA’s 2022 National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, along with CPWR’s Heat Illness Prevention (HIP) checklist, provides a clear framework that construction employers should be following. Yet too often, we see workers injured or even killed by preventable heat-related illnesses because basic safety measures were not in place.

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Summer-Camp-Injury-NYAs New York personal injury attorneys who have seen firsthand how preventable negligence can change lives, we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life at Camp Mystic in Texas, where a catastrophic flash flood claimed the lives of dozens of children and counselors over the July 4th weekend.

While the floodwaters surged in Texas, the ripple effects are being felt across the country — especially by parents preparing to send their children to summer camp in New York. The question on every parent’s mind: Could this happen here?

The heartbreaking reality is that camps — whether in upstate New York, the Catskills, or Long Island — are not immune from natural disasters, inadequate emergency preparedness, or lapses in supervision. But there are important steps parents can take to better protect their children and avoid preventable harm.

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melanoma_growth_over_14_monthsFrom the perspective of our skin cancer misdiagnoses attorneys

As attorneys handling failure-to-diagnose skin cancer cases, we have seen the devastating effects of delayed melanoma diagnoses. While medical technology continues to evolve, the legal system often lags behind in addressing how emerging tools should be integrated into standard care. A recent study exploring the use of 3D total-body photography in early melanoma detection raises critical questions about whether current practices are truly meeting the standard of care, especially for high-risk patients.

A New Frontier in Dermatology

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Jewel Perez died in a Queens car accidentAs Queens car accident lawyers, we’ve seen firsthand the devastation reckless driving can bring to families and communities. The recent fiery crash on the Belt Parkway that killed 24-year-old driver Noah Thompson and his 22-year-old passenger Jewel Perez is a heartbreaking reminder of just how deadly these incidents can be — especially when speed, alcohol, and failure to wear seat belts may be involved.

According to reports, Thompson was driving a BMW eastbound on the Belt Parkway around 6 a.m. on Saturday when he lost control near the Cross Bay Boulevard exit in Howard Beach. He slammed into a concrete divider, causing the vehicle to go airborne, land on the opposite side of the highway, strike two other cars — a Honda CR-V and a red Hyundai — and burst into flames. Tragically, neither Thompson nor Perez survived their injuries. Three other passengers in the BMW miraculously escaped with minor injuries.

At the time of the crash, none of the BMW occupants were wearing seat belts. Police sources have indicated that authorities were seeking a warrant to test Thompson’s blood for alcohol before he died.