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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Prospect park bike lanes5 bicyclists, 15 pedestrians and 201 motor vehicle occupants were injured and 1 pedestrian died  in traffic accidents on Flatbush Ave between Grand Army Plaza and Ocean Avenue from 2013 to 2017. This section of Flatbush Avenue was identified by Vision Zero as a priority corridor and the DOT proposal to install a protected bike lane was recently unanimously supported by the members of the Community Board 6. Work is scheduled to start this summer.  This segment of Flatbush Avenue connecting to Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Park, The Brooklyn Public Library,  Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Zoo is being used by an average of 500 bicyclists a day during the week-end and 350 during the week. It is also one of the busiest bus routes and more than 1100 vehicles per hour cross it at peak hours.

The DOT proposal should not only lead to a decrease in bicycle accidents but also improve bike  access to Prospect Park and on-street bike network

According to the DOT, the Prospect Park edge condition is ideal for two-way protected bike lanes that would provide 2-way routes around the park compared to one now and also provide alternative routes at night time when the park is closed.  Another protected bike lane project is in development for the segment of Ocean Ave that is at the edge of Prospect Park and the DOT is studying options to install bike lanes on Parkside Avenue and Prospect Park SW (see illustration).

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A man in a warehouse was fatally pinned against a wall by a tractor-trailer backing up. On Friday morning around 6:00, a 2012 Freightliner tractor trailer backed up into the loading dock inside Sun King Produce Corp located on Morgan Street near Jackson Street in East Williamsburg.  63 year old Son Ngoc Nguyen who was standing near the back wall was crushed against the wall by the truck. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries a day later. The truck driver wasn’t charged. Read more in the NY Daily News 

Dock workers at high risk of accidents

The loading dock is one of the most dangerous area in a warehouse. OSHA has specific regulations about loading dock safety that can be found in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.176 material handling. While forklift accidents such as forklift overturning,  are the most common in warehouses, it is also quite frequent for warehouse workers to be crushed by trucks and sadly most of these accidents are deadly . Here are some of the most recent cases reported by OSHA:

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A school bus driver who fatally hit a pedestrian back in February appeared in Bronx Criminal Court yesterday. On February 14th, 68 year old Agnes Egan was crossing the street at the intersection of Havemeyer Street and Story Avenue when she was struck by 66 year old Anton Goodhall who was driving a mini school bus south on Havemeyer. Video footage of the accident shows the minibus rolling over the pedestrian, stopping after the impact and then leaving the scene of the accident. Agnes Egan was critically injured and died 40 minutes later.

In Court the bus driver claimed he never saw the pedestrian. He said he stopped after the accident because he dropped a bottle of water. He also said that his visibility was reduced because two other cars were in  the intersection. He also mentioned a big pile of trash on a corner.

He is due to appear in Court again on July 11.

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location of the bicycle accidentA 22 year cyclist who was hit by a car in Brooklyn, NYC during the week-end died on Tuesday according to the NY Daily News. Kenichi Nakgawa was riding his bike South on Brooklyn Ave on Saturday around 5:25 pm when the 66-year old driver of a Toyota Sienna struck him. The young cyclist was rushed to the hospital with severe head trauma. He couldn’t survive his injuries and died 3 days after the accident. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged.

One day after Kenichi Nakgawa died, a 16 year old Brooklyn cyclist also lost his life after being run over by a van.  Yisroel Schwartz was riding North on 17th Avenue near 53rd Street in Borough Park when he was forced to swerve into the traffic to avoid a passenger who was opening the door of a parked car on the side of the road.  He lost control of the bike and fell on the ground. He was then run over by a  a white 2013 Econoline E350 van driving in the same direction. Yisroel was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Both drivers stayed at the scene of the accident. They weren’t charged.  Read more in Street Blog NYC

Yisroel Schwartz and Kenichi Nakgawa are the 9th and 10th cyclists killed this year in NYC traffic.

 

 

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According to statistics from the NYC Department of Buildings there were no fatalities at New York City construction sites during the first trimester of 2019 compared to 2 during the last trimester of 2018 and 4 during the same period a year ago. A total of 137 construction workers were injured in NYC during the first 3 months of the year compared to 158 during the previous trimester and 174 during the same period a year ago.  From April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019, 8 construction workers died on the job, compared to 16 for the same period a year earlier. (click on graphs for full size)

Fatalities in the New York City Construction Industry
Among the 137 workers who were injured, 90 of them were working at Manhattan construction sites, 10 at Bronx sites, 23 at Brooklyn sites, 13 at Queens sites and 1 at  a Staten Island construction site.

Construction Accident Injuries NYC by boroughs
Most construction accident fatalities and deaths in New York City occur in Manhattan. Both fatalities and injuries are on a rising trend in Manhattan. However, on a positive note, it is the first time since 2015 that no hard hat death was recorded in Manhattan over a 5 month-period. 25 workers were injured at Manhattan construction sites in both January and March with a spike at 40 in February.

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4 children and two adults died in a fire accident in New York early wednesday. The fire broke out a little after 1:30 am in the apartment where 45 year old Andrea Pollidore was living with her stepson 32 year old Matt Abdularauph and her 4 young children, 3 year old Elijah, 6 year old Brooklyn, 8 year old Andre and 11 year old Nakaira. Located on the fifth floor of the Frederick E. Samuel Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and W. 142nd St, the 3 bedroom apartment was completely destroyed by the flames. The fire started from the kitchen burning stove that was left unattended. No fire alarm went on and the fire spread quickly to the entire apartment while the family was asleep. When they woke up it was too late. They were trapped in their rooms and couldn’t access the door or the fire escape anymore.  When the firefighters arrived flames were pouring out of five windows of the apartment.  When they reached the two rear rooms they found the six occupants dead.

This accident is one of the most deadly New York fire accidents. A candlelight vigil was held in front of the building. Mayor de Blasio was on the site as well and said the entire city was saddened by the tragedy. The family were beloved members of the community. According to friends and family, Pollidore was a wonderful single mother and a nurse who loved her children and would give her life for them.

NYCHA said a new smoke alarm was installed in the apartment in 2017 but the firefighters couldn’t find it and tenants testified that they didn’t hear any alarm. When the FDNY checked the apartments near the one that burned all of them had relatively new and working detectors. Investigators will have to find out why there were none recovered in the apartment.

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Donna Sturm was killed by a cyclistDonna Sturm, a pedestrian who suffered traumatic brain injury after being struck by a bicyclist in midtown Manhattan almost two weeks ago died from her injuries over the week-end. Donna was left in a coma since the accident that occurred on April 24 around 1:00 pm. The 67 year old woman was coming back from lunch and was crossing 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues when  a bicyclist identified as 40-year old Damian Dewart recklessly ran the red light and struck her. (see our previous blog for more details on the accident)

Our managing partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz who is representing the family of  Donna Sturm  issued the following statement on behalf of the family:

Donna Sturm was a vibrant, energetic and wonderful woman who died as a result of carelessness and negligence.

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toddler killed by van locationA toddler was fatally struck by a van in New York City. The pedestrian accident occured yesterday around 12:45 pm in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, NYC. The van which was delivering candies and had Kittles and Starbust logos on it, was making a turn from Bay 25th street onto Benson Avenue when he ran over the 3-year-old Emur Shavkator who was riding a small green scooter. The boy was with his mom and another child. His mother was frantically trying to pull him from underneath the van. When the EMS arrived the boy was unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The van driver wasn’t exercising due care and killed the young pedestrian

The driver of the van, 61 year old Johnny Gonzalez of Bensonhurst, stayed at the scene of the accident. He was arrested and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. There is a stop sign just before the sidewalk where the van struck the young boy. However according to a crossing guard working nearby who spoke with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, many drivers in the area are behaving dangerously. “I see drivers do stupid things here all the time. They race by me, they run lights, stop signs and sometimes I try to get their license plates, but it happens so fast,” she said. “I hope we can find a way for people to just slow down.” Residents also confirmed that drivers were constantly blowing the stop sign on Bay 25th Street.

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Chicken CoopIn 2018, 120 Americans died and 25,606 suffered illness after being contaminated by dangerous food. 5,893 of them had to be hospitalized to be treated. Produce caused half of the illnesses, then in order meat and poultry, dairy and eggs, fish and shellfish.

The infections are caused by 7 main bacteria ad 1 parasite:

  1. 9,084 cases of Salmonella caused 2,416 hospitalizations and 36 deaths. Salmonella is mainly found in eggs and chicken
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harness safety equipment on scaffoldOn April 28th, Workers Memorial Day commemorated those who have suffered and died on the job. The NY construction industry accounts for a large share of the deaths and injuries suffered by workers. While fatal construction accidents have declined by 23% in New York City over the last 5 years they increased by 39% in New York State. The main reason behind this discrepancy is the difference in regulations. While stronger regulations and an increase of enforcement and control could help reduce the construction safety crisis in New York State, businesses are heavily lobbying against them.

In New York City things are not perfect either ( 3 construction workers died over a one week period last month) but long term statistics indicate that new and old policies are helping in making construction sites safer for workers. In 2019 the funding for the New York City Department of Buildings increased to 189 million compared to 107 million in 2015. The Department was able to hire 700 more employees and increase the number of work-site inspections.  The recent implementation of Local Law 196 that requires all construction workers to have a minimum amount of safety training before being able to work on a construction site in New York City will also be helpful in preventing dangerous injury and deaths.

Scaffold Safety Law

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