Four Construction Workers Injured In Partial Collapse At Midtown Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - Four construction workers were injured Tuesday morning when a railing collapsed in a Midtown commercial building, authorities said.
It happened around 10 a.m. inside an empty building at East 43rd Street and Madison Avenue that used to house an Easy Spirit shoe store, where construction workers were on the job Tuesday morning, CBS2's Emily Smith reported.
The structure is a 14-story commercial building under interior demolition, according to the NYC Department of Buildings.
A chaotic scene unfolded as ambulances and fire trucks blocked the streets and passersby witnessed the accident.
"All we saw were like 12 trucks rushing here quickly," one witness said. "They all surrounded the entrance, and they all took out these rubber stretchers. And as soon as they went inside, they brought out four guys. All had neck braces. All badly hurt."
The four workers were taken to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition, authorities said.
Battalion Chief Tom Mara said workers in a two-story lobby were doing interior demolition on the mezzanine when the accident happened.
"While attempting to remove a chandelier on the ceiling above the first floor entrance, four workers using hooks to secure the chandelier fell when a four-foot marble banister on the mezzanine floor used to leverage the workers gave way and collapsed," said Alexander Schnell with the NYC Dept. of Buildings.
The workers fell approximately 15 feet with the chandelier and part of marble banister coming down with them, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
SL Green Realty released a statement confirming that four workers were being treated at the hospital.
"The work was being performed by Waldorf Demolition with Tishman Construction acting as construction manager, and there was a licensed site safety manager present," a spokesman said. "Safety is our top priority; we're continuing to monitor the workers' status and we will release information as soon as it's available."
A full stop work order has been issued, as well as three Environmental Control Board (ECB) violations, Schnell said.
The city has seen a spate of construction accidents in recent weeks.
On Monday, a worker died while shoring up a building in the Meatpacking District. Last week, another construction worker fell to his death in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. And in March, a passerby was killed by flying construction debris in Greenwich Village.
The New York Committee of Occupational Safety and Health recently performed an analysis of OSHA construction site inspections, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
"We find that two-thirds of those inspections resulted in serious safety violations," said Charlene Obernauer, executive director of NYCOSH.
The city's Buildings Department said it is continuing to develop innovative methods, including the use of data analytics to aggressively pursue and hold construction site managers accountable for safety.
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