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.

Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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craneAfter two successive crane accidents in New York including one fatal, the company United Crane and Rigging was temporary barred from continuing work at 22 construction sites in the city. The NYC DOB will allow the company to restart work only after it replaces some of the employees involved in the recent accidents that occurred on July 30 in the East Village and in April in Soho. On July 30, the company had a crane working at a site located at 749 FDR Drive. The operator of the crane was lifting steel beans when the boom of the crane bent and partially collapsed. The operator then lost control of the load which struck the building before falling on the ground. Thankfully nobody was injured but investigators found that the load lifted by the crane weighted 4,400 pounds while the maximum lifting capacity was 3,700 pounds. Back in April,  34 year old Gregory Echevarria, a war hero who served several deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan died and two other construction workers were injured after a counterweight fell and crushed him during a crane installation by the same operator (see previous blog).

To be able to restart work on its 22 construction sites, United Crane and Rigging has to provide proof to the NYC Department of Buildings that the engineer of record, master rigger, lift director, assembly and disassembly and hoisting machine operators have all been replaced with new staff. Additionally the company also has to hire an independent monitor who will report to the DOB on United Crane and Rigging’s safety compliance.The negligent crane company was also hit with 5 DOB violations for:

  1. inadequate safety measures on site
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Jose-Alzorriz was riding his bike when he was fatally hit by a car in NYC52 year old Jose Alzorritz died in a horrific bicycle accident in New York City on Sunday afternoon. Alzorritz was on his bike at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Avenue L when a reckless driver speeding down Coney Island Ave blew the red light and collided with a minivan that was crossing the intersection from Avenue L. The impact was so intense that the minivan slid through the intersection and violently struck the cyclist. When the EMS arrived to the scene of the accident, they found Alzorritz unconscious on the ground with major head trauma. He was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. A pedestrian suffered a leg injury and the driver of the van multiple body trauma. They were both hospitalized but their lives are not in danger.  The police didn’t reveal the identity of the reckless driver who caused the accident. They only revealed that he was 18 year old. He was taken into custody and charges are pending. A dashboard video of the accident clearly shows that the driver was reckless and sped through the red light (see below).

Dangerous Avenue

Coney Island Avenue is a dangerous avenue. Last month a pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Church Avenue. Maria Del Carmen Porras-Hernandez was in the crosswalk when she was fatally hit by a car. 19 cyclists, 43 pedestrians and 114 motorists were injured in traffic accidents between July 2018 and July 2019 on Coney Island Avenue. Speeding is frequent and so is double parking. Transportation Alternative published a statement in which the traffic safety advocate is asking Coney Island City Council to unite behind Speaker Corey Johnson’s Streets Master Plan bill, which would accelerate the schedule of redesigning deadly corridors like Coney Island Avenue.

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ProfessorDanielPollackA few years ago, 18 year old Conrad Roy killed himself after his 17 year old girlfriend Michelle Carter encouraged him to commit suicide over text messages. Michelle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and is now serving a 15-month jail sentence. Her conviction was appealed by her lawyer to the US Supreme Court but despite the numerous First Amendment issues related to the handling of the case, Michelle was ordered to serve her sentence.   In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City, takes a look at some of these issues and suggests  what can public human services agency or child protective services (CPS) do to discourage this macabre text taunting to suicide activity.

The article can be downloaded here

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The month of April was a bad month for the construction industry in New York: 3 hard hats died in NYC construction accidents and almost 100 were injured. 2 workers died in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn.

On April 8, 51-year-old Nelson Salinas was repairing the facade on a building located  at 311 E. 50th Street near Second Ave on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was standing on a suspended scaffold at the 7th floor of the 14 story building when a piece of coping stone that was under one of the C-Hooks fell onto him. Salinas was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries.

Two days later a young worker fell to his death in Brooklyn. 23-year-old Erik Mendoza, a Mexican immigrant, was replacing bricks under the water tower of a 13 story building located on Pierrepont Street. Mendoza had just been hired to work for the building a week before the fatal accident occurred. He didn’t receive any site safety orientation for working on the penthouse roof, no guard-rail or fall protection were installed and the young man wasn’t provided with fall protection equipment. The owner of the building was issued a DOB violation and a Full Stop Work Order was issued.

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Since 2011 the number of construction workers who died in a fall accident increased by 45% according to the recent report “Trends of Fall Injuries and Prevention in the Construction Industry” released by the The Center for Construction Research and Training.

The report focuses mostly on data from 2011 to 2017 and found that despite a slow down in construction accident fatalities between 2016 and 2017, the number of deaths related to fall accidents continued to rise. 389 construction workers fell to their death in 2017 compared to 388 in 2016.

construction deaths and fall deaths 2003 to 2017
Among the 389 fall fatalities, 367 were to a lower level. Falls from roofs are the most common and account for approximately one third of the fall fatalities. Falls from ladders are the second most common causes of fall fatalities and account for approximately a quarter of them.  All in all falls from roofs, ladders and scaffolds account for more than 70% of all falls to a lower level.

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cyclist-nyc-e15620847726003 people died in bicycle accidents in NYC during the last 7 days.

Last Monday Robyn Hightman, a bike courier, was fatally struck by a truck on 6th Ave near 25th Street. Both the truck and the cyclist were heading in the same direction when they collided. The truck driver first didn’t stop but then returned to the scene of the accident after a witness in another car told him he hit someone. the driver told the police he didn’t know he hit the cyclist. Police said the driver was let go after he was hit with five summonses. The driver, 54 year old Antonio Garcia said it was the first time he had an accident since he started to work for his employer 14 years ago. However a look at the Howsmydrivingnyc.com indicates that the truck was hit with 83 violations since 2015 mostly for parking but also for speeding. A vigil was organized for Robyn during which hundreds of cyclists gathered and expressed not only their sadness but also their anger at authorities that are doing very little to hold drivers accountable. Robyn was the 12th cyclist in New York City to be killed in traffic this year.

Last Thursday night  around 9:00 pm, 57 year old Ernest Askew was fatally struck by an 18 year old driver on Sutter Avenue near Chester in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The car driver wasn’t arrested. Brownsville which is a low income community of color doesn’t have any protected bike lanes and there are not many efforts being made in regards to street safety. Cyclists share wide roadways with cars and speeding is common. At a vigil for Ernest Askew yesterday evening activists asked the city to address the lack of equity in low-income communities of color when it comes to protected bike lanes and street safety.

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SUV involved in the fatal hit and run accidentA pedestrian was killed in a hit and run accident in NYC on father’s day. Christopher Nieves, a 37 year old dad was struck by a brown 2004 Chevy Tahoe with a New York plate reading CRR 5224 and a sticker that says “Salt Life” on the rear window.  The police are now looking for the person who was behind the wheel of this SUV. The accident occurred a little bit after 6:00 am on father’s day. Christopher Nieves was trying to hail a cab when he was struck by the SUV speeding down the street. The driver never stopped. At the time of the accident, Christopher was with two friends who tried to pull him back when they saw the SUV but it was too late.

Nieves was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved.

Anyone who has information about the driver can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

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Trench and excavation accident prevention infographicConstruction workers who are working in trenching and excavation are exposed to extremely dangerous hazards resulting most of the time from collapse. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 130 hard hats died in trenching and excavation accidents between 2011 and 2016.

Half of these fatalities occurred between 2015 and 2016.

Among the 130 dead workers, 104 were working for the private construction industry and among them 40 died at industrial places and premises, 39 died at private residence sites and 21 died at streets or highways construction sites.

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Location of the fatal accident caused by drunk driver Upstate NY3 people died and 6 were injured in a car accident in Upstate New York on Sunday morning. The victims were all members of the same family and were on their way to Niagara Falls. They were all riding in a Kia Sedona minivan when they were T-boned by a drunk driver who blew a stop sign in Sheldon, a small town in Upstate New York.

Among those who died were 4 year old Kiara Hernandez, her mother, 32 year old Mayelin Broti-Castro and her grandmother, 47 year old Ondina Castro de la Cruz. 6 other family members all from Perth Amboy, NJ, were also injured in the crash and taken to the hospital. The driver was identified as 20 year old Richard Sawicki. He was also injured in the accident, transported to the hospital and later on taken into custody where he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond. He is facing vehicular homicide, DWI and reckless driving charges. He is due in Court on June 10.

Drunk Driver blew the stop sign

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Location of the fatal motorcycle accident in Brooklyn NYCA 28-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle accident in New York City, early Monday morning. He collided with a car driven by a 24-year-old drunk woman who was driving without a license.

Alexander Evron was riding his Kawasaki motorcycle South on Ocean Parkway around 3:55 am when he collided with an Infiniti car driven by Jasmin Morales-Cruz.

The motorcyclist was thrown off the bike. He was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved and was pronounced dead upon his arrival.

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