2 Construction Workers Killed At Upper West Side Site
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two construction workers died Tuesday after they fell five stories from a landing at an Upper West Side construction site.
The iron workers, aged 51 and 49, were rushed to St. Luke's Hospital in serious and critical condition at around 10:30 a.m. from the site located at 150 West 83rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
The men -- identified as 49-year-old Brett McEnroe and 51-year-old Roy Powell -- were declared dead shortly after 11 a.m.
One man, who lives across the street from the accident, said he has always been concerned about the work site.
WCBS 880 Reporter Monica Miller spoke with an area resident who was concerned about the site.
Podcast
"The wind, the snow -- you see what happens. How high that goes up -- it shakes. The wind goes fifty to sixty miles an hour," he told WCBS 880's Monica Miller.
Oscar Sanchez, who works at a nearby parking garage, said firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene after the iron workers fell.
1010 WINS Reporter Juliet Papa talked with a witness to the emergency response
Podcast
"They brought the first guy out and they were pumping his chest and they took him in the ambulance. He left and they brought a second guy down also...he fell about fifty feet," he told 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa.
The deaths prompted renewed questions about safety at the construction site, where a community center is being built for the Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The site has been plagued by complaints -- one as recently as this past weekend about a loose tarp and falling debris.
1010 WINS Reporter Juliet Papa with reaction from the Buildings Commissioner
Podcast
Construction at the site has been ongoing for the past year to year-and-a-half. The Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said there is "no evidence" that assured him "there were safety measures in place."
There is speculation that the wind could have been a factor in the accident. The official cause remains under investigation by police and OSHA.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press contributed to this report.
