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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construction workers working at height in NYCAs spring is here and construction activities are booming in the city, the recent release of the NYC Department of Buildings Construction Safety report is a bleak reminder of the multiple fatalities that occurred on New York construction sites during the same season last year. After two workers fell to their death in February,  two other hard hats died in April, one from electrocution and the other from a fall. Then in May, two workers were crushed by a falling elevator cabin and one of them died while the other one was critically injured. The same month two other workers fell to their death in Long Island City and Flatbush.

After this horrible spring, the DOT organized a giant sweet of almost all construction sites in NYC, sending to the field an army of investigators and shutting down any construction site where major safety violations were discovered.  As a result  fewer fatalities were reported during the remaining months of the year with two other worker falling to their death, one in Manhattan in September and one in Gowanus in November.

The reports also confirms that after a drop of activity related to the Covid19 lockdown, construction activity in NYC increased again in 2021. A total of 168,423 construction permits were issued in 2021 compared to 147,760 in 2020. Manhattan was the borough with the highest number of permits issued (63,320)  however Queens came number one for new buildings filed with 573 applications, followed by Staten Island with 521 application.  Brooklyn had the highest number of certificates of occupancy issued (2,053) followed by Queens (1,613).

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Car Accident Attorney Ben RubinowitzOur managing partner Ben Rubinowitz will be a Faculty Member at the 360 Advocacy Auto Crash Litigation 8.0 on April 24-26, 2022 in Las Vegas.

Named 4 times Best Lawyers®’s Lawyer of the year, NYC car accident lawyer Ben Rubinowitz has a long and vast experience trying auto accident cases  and has achieved multi-millions verdict and settlements.  Among the most recent were a record setting $71 million verdict for a 19 year old student who suffered a spinal cord injury in a devastating car accident and  a $41.5 million for the family of a sanitation worker wo was killed by a street sweeper truck.

Ben will be part of a faculty made of the top trial attorneys in the nation and participants will learn:

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lawdragon-black-3Congratulations to Marijo Adimey, Jeffrey Bloom, Diana Carnemolla, Christopher Donadio, Anthony Gair,  Howard Hershenhorn, Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Saghir for being selected for the 2022 LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING PLAINTIFF CONSUMER LAWYERS and to Anthony Gair for being inducted in the 2022 CLASS OF HALL OF FAME HONOREES.

Since 2007, LawDragon has been reviewing thousands of personal injury attorneys who are fighting for consumers to get justice in cases related to traffic accidents, child sexual abuse, defective products as well cases related to the actual opioid crises, toxic substances and more.   Through peer assessment and independent research that include factors such as achieved verdicts and settlements, LawDragon selects what can be considered the top 500 plaintiff personal injury attorneys in the nation.

Additionnally LawDragon also inducted 100 2022 class of Hall of Fame Honorees.  Honorees inducted in the Hall of Fame  are not only plaintiff powerhouses but also top corporate litigators and innovators who established new areas of law practice and individuals whose dedication to the legal system are unsurpassed. We are very proud that our partner Anthony Gair was included in this prestigious list of honorees that also includes Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer and US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

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10 pedestrians, 8 passengers and 6 drivers died in crashes in New York City in February. No cyclists fatalities were reported to the NYPD during this month. 266 bus accidents, 577 truck accidents and 56 motorcycle accidents were reported among the total 7,261 motor vehicle collisions recorded in February.

Traffic accident fatalities in New York City reached a record high for the month of February with 24 people dying in traffic accidents compared to respectively 10, 17, 12, 16, 13, 18, 15, 12 and 20 in February 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.  Traffic accident fatalities in the city last February were even higher than what they were in February 2013 before Vision Zero started.  The  trendline which had been steadily declining during Vision Zero is now almost flat. Since last February ,monthly car accident fatalities have been at the level of the trendline or above which is quite unusual and quite worrisome.

Car accident fatalities February 22
The high number of car accident fatalities in New York City last February is mostly due to a record high number of car passengers fatalities (see category in red in the graph below, click on it for full size). 8 motor vehicle passengers died in crashes last February compared to 5 in January 2020 and 2 in February 2021. Since Vision Zero started and even a year before, the highest total monthly passengers fatalities were 6 in April 2014 and 6 in July 2015.

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Personal Injury Attorney Ben RubinowitzOur managing partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz will be a speaker at the Master of Advocacy program that will take place during the Boardwalk Seminar 2022 organized by the New Jersey Association for Justice on Wednesday April 27, 2022 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Ben will be speaking about the Use of Case Framing at Pretrial and at Trial. This portion of the program will focus on the bridge between cross examination and final argument. These case framing techniques will show you new and innovative ways to:

• Build powerful arguments for summation during cross examination

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fall prevention posterLast year, 7 out of the 9 NYC construction worker deaths reported by the Department of Buildings were caused by falls. Additionnally the DOB also reported that 194 workers were injured in fall accidents on New York City construction sites during the same period. This was a record high compared to the previous years (see previous blog). Despite increased safety training requirements for workers, fall remains the number one cause of accident deaths and injuries in the New York construction industry and nationally as well. According to the most recent statistics from the BLS 351 out of the 1,008 construction fatalities recorded nationally in 2020 were fall fatalities. Most of these accidents were preventable.

Preventing fall accidents is the reason why, every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in collaboration with multiple other partners involved in workplace safety such as the CPWR and NORA are organizing a National Stand Down during which employers are invited to voluntarily take a break from work and sit down with their workers to discuss or participate to activities  related to fall hazards.

Anyone can participate and every year sees more and more participants from major corporate construction companies to small contractors, including the US Army and other governmental participants. All employers  participating receive a certificate.

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location where the car jumped the curb in Brooklyn6 pedestrians were injured in a car accident in NYC yesterday morning. A driver jumped the curb at the intersection of St. Johns Place and Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, a little bit before 8:00 am. This is the time during which parents are bringing their children to school. A video below shows one of the victims crossing the street with his two children just before the driver looses control of his vehicle and jumps the curb at a high rate of speed. The 48 year old father and his two sons that are 9 year old and 11 year old were struck by the car. They sustained serious injuries but are in stable condition. Another woman got pinned between the car and a pole. A total of 5 people were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and another person was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The police arrested the driver of the car but it is not clear if he will be charged. The accident occurred just one day after the police announced that the mother who was struck by a driver jumping the curb in Harlem a week earlier had died from her injuries, leaving behind her 6 year old son. (see previous blog) .

Earlier during the week, 7 people were injured in a car accident that occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge. The crash involved multiple cars and according to witnesses was “surreal”. A vehicle went airborne. A driver was critically injured after being ejected from his car.  6 other people were seriously injured and transported to the hospital. Tourists who were walking on the bridges aid they witnessed a horrific scene of wrecked cars and multiple bodies lying all over the ground.  The police is still investigating the accident and said that previous to the crash the man who was ejected from his car was driving his white jeep at a high rate of speed but so far they could not confirm that he caused the accident. Read more in News Week

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Another NYC pedestrian hit by an out of control driver died. A week ago, 38 year old Jennifer Tolliver was walking on a NYC sidewalk with her 6 year old son Ashton when they were struck in the back by an out of control driver who jumped the curb (see previous blog).  Tolliver and her son were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The driver who hit them was also transported to the hospital. He was seriously injured but was in stable condition. Yesterday the police announced that Jennifer Tolliver died from her injuries leaving behind her son for whom the police did not provide an update. The police also confirmed that they did not charge the driver. At the time of the accident the police mentioned that the driver may have suffered a medical episode however they did not provide any update about it and what type of medical episode he may have suffered. Read more in the NY Post

In New York City one pedestrian dies approximately every 3 days in a car accident

According to the most recent NYPD statistics, 10 pedestrians died in car accidents in New York City in February and 11 in January for a total of 21 for the first two months of the year. This is the highest number of pedestrian fatalities for the first two months of the year since 2020 when 23 pedestrians died during the first two months of the year.

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location of the MTA and scooter accidetn in Ridgewood Queens NYCA 15 year old boy riding a scooter in Queens NYC was critically injured in an accident with a MTA BUS. So far the police are still investigating the accident and did not provide any information as how the collision occurred. The NYPD only said that the boy was riding the electric scooter near the intersection of Seneca and Gates Aves. in Ridgewood (see picture) when he was struck by the bus. He suffered severe body trauma and was rushed to the hospital.  (read more in the NY Daily News)

Motorcyclist injured in hit and run has to investigate his own accident

Another motorcyclist was injured last week-end after he was struck  by a hit and run driver who pulled out of a parking space and struck him. A surveillance video shows 35 year old Franck Guzman riding his motorcycle south bound on Boston Road when a driver  pulling out of a parking area and crossing though traffic hit him. Guzman went flying in the air while the driver sped away and disappeared. Guzman could not stand up and was transported to the hospital to be treated. The police told him they would come to see him but never showed up.

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New York Personal Injury Lawyer Rich SteigmanOur partner, New York Personal Injury Lawyer Richard Steigman, will be  giving a detailed overview of the provisions of the Speaking Agents Act (S.7093/A.8040), which became law on December 31, 2021 in a webinar organized by the New York State Trial Lawyers Institute (NYSTLI) on April 13 from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The webinar is free and informative only and no CLE credits will be offered.

The Speaking Agent Act “amends the rules of evidence to permit the admission of an opposing party’s statement if made by an agent or employee made within the scope of that relationship and during the existence of that relationship.”  This key legislation that was signed a few months ago by Governor Kathy Hochul  creates a new section of the Civil Procedure Law rules and ensures that a statement by an employee or party’s agent is admissible when it relates to a matter that occurs within the scope of the employment. Additionnally, the new law also ensures that the statement made by by an employee or party’s agent can be heard by juries based on their relevance to the case.

Previous to this amendment, employees  statements, even when relevant to the case could only be accepted as evidence if they were made by a “speaking agent” who was a high level management person or the business manager or owner. This rules has lead to multiple unfair rulings over the years.  For example, in 1974, a statement by a store employee that he had asked someone to clean the spill was excluded by the Court of Appeals, because the plaintiff did not prove that the employee had the authority to speak on behalf of the defendant (Tyrrell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 97 N.Y.2d 650, 762 N.E.2d 921, 737 N.Y.S.2d 43, 2001 N.Y. LEXIS 3421).

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