A decorative stone arch on the top of the front door of a residential brownstone in Brooklyn collapsed on the stoop and destroyed it, prompting the Department of Buildings to evacuate the building. Luckily nobody was around when the accident occurred. Three families living in the building were evacuated and…
In New York, landlords have a legal duty to make sure that their tenants have safe living conditions. While most landlords are serious about their responsibilities and maintain their buildings in decent condition, a few bad apples are collecting building violations and putting their tenants at risk of injuries. Some…
Imagine a scenario almost too terrible to speak about. But by not speaking about it, justice will never be done, and others might be injured. On May 17, 2015, a caring, loving grandmother took her 2-year-old grandchild for a walk in New York City. They paused for a moment and…
To prevent accidents related to façade collapse or falling debris, any New York City buildings of six stories or higher must have its façade inspected every five years as part of what is known as the “Façade Inspection Safety Program”. This program was started in 1980 after Grace Gold, a…
The NYC Department of Buildings is failing to adequately protect New Yorkers from dangerous construction accidents. A recent audit by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer show that for the 85,000 complaints that the agency received in 2019, the DOB was late in one out of five initial inspection attempts.…
A man suffered serious personal injury after falling 15 feet into a sinkhole in New York City. The 33 year old victim was waiting for his bus in front of a building located at 4521 Third Avenue in Tremont in the Bronx when the sidewalk suddenly sank under him. The…
Buildings continue to collapse like card castles in New York City. The facade of a building located at 204 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg came crashing down on the sidewalk yesterday afternoon around 12;45 pm. Luckily nobody was injured in the collapse as the building was vacant at the time of…
A man suffered a skull fracture after a facade collapsed on him as he was walking on a New York City sidewalk. 39 year-old Oumar Ba, a father of two, was walking on the sidewalk on St. Johns Place in Crown Heights yesterday afternoon around 3:00 pm. when a chunk…
Two people were recently killed by falling debris in New York. In January a woman was killed in Queens after a piece of plywood detached from a building (see previous blog). A month before another woman was killed in Midtown after debris from a building under construction fell on her…
A pedestrian was killed by falling debris in New York City. 67 year old Xiang Ji was walking on Main Street near 41st Street in Flushing, Queens Thursday morning around 9:45 am. There was a strong wind and as she walked in front of the building located at 41-28 Main…