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 Tagged with building collapse

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Google map view of the location of the accident before illegal work startedThe recent catastrophe in Borough Park, Brooklyn, where a 33-year-old construction worker, Juan Ganche, lost his life due to a floor collapse in a residential home, is a reminder of the critical importance of adhering to construction safety regulations. This accident, occurring under the shadow of illegal work and oversight failures, not only ended a life prematurely but also exposed the systemic issues plaguing construction sites across New York City.

Juan Ganche, a dedicated worker who had been contributing to the construction industry since his arrival in the United States from Ecuador 14 years ago, was tragically killed when the first floor of the structure he was working on collapsed into the cellar.

This accident, which marked the first construction site fatality in New York City this year, has once again brought to the forefront the perilous conditions under which many construction workers operate.

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Monterey garage in UWS has structural issuesThe recent collapse of a parking garage in Lower Manhattan, which resulted in the loss of a life and injuries to several individuals, has raised concerns about the safety and condition of parking structures throughout New York. In response, city officials conducted inspections of numerous garages, uncovering widespread structural problems that have been allowed to persist for years. This blog explores the findings of The New York Times’ investigation into the state of these garages, shedding light on the hazards faced by both employees and customers.

The investigation by The New York Times has revealed that serious structural issues are prevalent among parking garages across the city. Crumbling ceilings, exposed and rusting reinforcing bars, and other defects have been identified in over three dozen garages including the Monterey Garage in the UWS where the DOT documented that a 12 by 18-inch chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling. Shockingly, many of these garages have continued to operate despite the documented hazards. In some cases, inspections uncovered garages that were exceeding their capacity, with exits blocked on multiple levels due to overcrowding.

Neglected Violations

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location of the building collapseBuildings 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 the accident and nobody was in the street because of the heavy rain caused by the tropical Storm Isaias.  There was only damage to the cars parked in the vicinity of the building as falling debris poured onto the street. Residents of adjacent buildings were  evacuated. The DOB issued a fully vacate order to the building located next door at 206 Bedford Avenue while inspectors are still figuring out the causes of the partial structural building collapse.

The  building that collapsed had not logged any complaints since 2003 when a complaint for loud noise related to illegal construction after hours was filed.  2 violations were opened by the DOB after the collapse  for “structure rendered non-compliant after front facade and 3rd floor collapsed”.

The Brooklyn building collapse followed a series of  other building collapses in New York City:

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Building that collapsed in ManhattanAnother building partially collapsed in Manhattan yesterday, The building that hosts a mix of residences and commercial spaces is located at 211 East 34th Street. It was completely empty and was undergoing construction work. Around 11:30 am yesterday morning a first part of the wall collapsed followed an hour later by another collapse.

Nobody was injured but the street was closed by the police and the residents of an adjacent  building were evacuated for safety.

The collapsed occurred in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan a few blocks away from another deadly construction accident that occurred a few hours later and during which a piece of parapet detached from the roof and landed on a hanging scaffolding, killing one construction worker and injuring 3 others.

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Hard-Rock-Hotel-construction-accident-e1582228604154The crane accident that killed 4 people at a Google office project in Seattle and the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel project that resulted in 3 deaths were among the most horrendous construction accidents that occur last year in the US.  While these major tragedies were all over the news, crane accidents and partial building collapses occurred all over the country last year.  A partial collapse of a building in Cinicinnati, a crane collapse in Dallas. Most big cities in the US  had similar tragedies including New York. Last August one man died and five were injured in a building collapse (see previous blog). A crane company was temporarily banned from the city after two consecutive crane accidents including one resulting in the death of a construction worker (see previous blog).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 175 people are injured in crane accidents and 44 die on average every year in the US

Most crane accidents are caused by human errors. Many of them such as the one that occurred at the Google site in Seattle or the one that killed a worker in New York occur during the  assembling or the disassembling of the crane.  The assembly/dissassembly director is in charge of making sure that the manufacturer guidelines and all safety procedures are followed during this dangerous operation. While OSHA introduced new regulations last April, these regulations are mostly related to improving crane operator’s knowledge and training.

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3 people were injured after a building collapsed at 1438 Fulton St. near Brooklyn Ave in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NYC yesterday afternoon. The building was set to be demolished and was vacant except for a beauty supply store at the bottom floor. Thankfully no one was inside at the time of the accident. 55 year old Terry Charles who was riding his bike near the building at the time of the collapse was injured after he fell off his bike. Two other pedestrians were also injured.  Read more and see Surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York