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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16 year old Oscar Hernandez suffered catastrophic personal injury as the result of the gas explosion accident that happened last March in Harlem, New York. 3 months later he is still in the hospital recovering from severe burns, broken bones and internal injuries. Oscar was in the coma for 11 days and has no recollection of the gas explosion. He woke up in the hospital to hear that his mom and sister had passed. Today the New York Daily News wrote a touching article about the difficulty endured by Oscar Hernandez and his family to overcome this tragedy. Read the article here

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A construction worker died recently after plunging 5 stories down an elevator shaft on a New York construction site. The worker was wearing a safety harness but he wasn’t connected to a lifeline. A second worker was also injured as he plunged from the second to the first floor. The site, a 6-story new building under construction, was hit with a stop work order by the Department of Buildings.

Falls is the deadliest hazard in the construction industry. The accident happened during the OSHA National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction.

Read more in CBS New York

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A 22 year old Brooklyn supermarket worker was crushed to death by a forklift yesterday. According to the media, Gustavo Tapia was using an electric pallet stacker to push a Yale forklift up a ramp leading to the rooftop of Moisha’s Discount Supermarket on Ave M in Borough Park, Brooklyn when the forklift suddenly rolled backward and pinned the young worker against the wall. Gustavio Tapia suffered fatal chest injury and was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.

Read more in the Gothamist and the NY Daily News

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A 63 year old woman died and a 58 year old man is in critical condition after both were involved in two separate car accidents in Brooklyn, NYC, this week-end. The first accident happened at the intersection of Coney Island Ave and Avenue N. Two cars collided and went spinning through the intersection. One of them hit 63 year old Galina Truglio who was walking in the crosswalk before hitting another car. Galina Ruglio was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Intersection of Coney Island Ave and Avenue N is a very dangerous intersection. According to NYC Crashmapper there were 46 collisions over the last 31 months at this intersection. 4 pedestrians, 2 cyclists, one passenger and one driver suffered personal injuries at this location during the last 31 months.

accidents%20at%20Coney%20Island%20Ave%20and%20Avenue%20N.jpg6 hours later a 58 year old man suffered serious personal injury after being struck by a car while crossing Nostrand Ave at Church Ave in Brooklyn as well.

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The City Council just passed 11 traffic safety bills to crack down on reckless drivers and reduce accidents related to traffic violence. Drivers who fail to yield to a pedestrian or a cyclist will be punished by a penalty of $50 to $250 and up to 15 days in jail. Drivers who hit a pedestrian or a cyclist who has the right of way will be criminally charged and punished by up to $500 in fines and 30 days in jail. Cab drivers who injure or kill someone while committing a traffic violation will have their license immediately suspended. Stunt behaviors by motorcyclists such as wheelies and donuts will be prohibited.

Read more about these bills in New York Street Blog

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As part of the Vision Zero Initiative to reduce pedestrian deaths, the NYPD led a two-day crackdown on speeding in New York City. The police issued a total of 4814 tickets: 1249 in Brooklyn, 1219 in Queens, 1175 in Manhattan, 782 in the Bronx and 389 in Staten Island.

Read more in CBS New York

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Window%20guards.jpgA toddler fell yesterday from the sixth floor of a Crown St. building near Albany Ave in Brooklyn, New York. He landed on a balcony and later died of his injuries at the hospital. The window where the child fell from was open and didn’t have a guard. (read more in the New York Daily News)

Every year in New York young children are dying or are being seriously injured after falling from unguarded windows. These deaths and injuries are preventable.

The window guard law requires owners to send an annual notice to tenants of multiple dwellings (buildings of 3 or more apartments) regarding window guards. It also requires owners to provide and properly install approved window guards on all windows, including first floor bathrooms and windows leading onto a balcony or terrace in an apartment where a child 10 years of age or younger resides and in each common area window, if any, in such buildings. The exceptions to this law are windows that open onto a fire escape and windows on the first floor that are a required secondary exit in a building in which there are fire escapes on the second floor and up.

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As part of the Vision Zero Initiative to reduce deaths and injuries related to traffic accidents, New York police officers gave out more than 1000 summonses including 500 for failure to yield to pedestrian between May 5th and May 10th at a dangerous Queens intersection located near 74th street, Roosevelt Ave and Broadway.

The location was selected by the city because it has a history of accident. Last February a 25 year old woman was struck to death by a MTA bus at this intersection.

Read more in DNAinfo New York

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The police started yesterday a two-day crackdown on speeding in NYC. Every month in New York there are approximately 250 traffic accidents related to unsafe speed. In their announcement the police say that drivers should adhere to newly created “arterial slow zones” and “school zones” throughout the city where speed limits are reduced to 25 and 20 miles per hour respectively. If they don’t, they could be fined anywhere between $90 and $600 and receive a 3 to 11 points on their license, police warned.

Read more in DNA New York

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In 2012, 300 construction workers died and thousands of them suffered severe personal injury as the result of a fall. Year after year, falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. They can often be prevented by planning ahead to get the job done safely, providing the right equipment to workers and training workers to use equipment and tools safely. To raise awareness about this major safety issue, OSHA will host a National Safety Stand-Down from June 2nd to June 6th. Large and small employers have already committed to voluntary stop work to discuss fall hazards and prevention during this week. OSHA is hoping to reach 25,000 employers and 1 million construction workers.

To learn more about it click here