By Della Hasselle and Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Staff
HELL'S KITCHEN — A construction worker toiling on a luxury 42nd Street high-rise building partially designed by Frank Gehry had to be hospitalized Monday after he fell three stories at the site, officials said.
The unidentified construction worker was laboring at 440 W. 42nd St., the star-studded condo and rental project owned by the Related Companies and built by Tishman Construction Corporation, when he fell around 11:30 a.m., the FDNY said.
The worker was conscious but had some trauma, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, a fire department spokesman said.
The worker was released from the hospital and returned to the job site, according to Tishman spokesperson John Gallagher. Gallagher said the worker had sustained only minor injuries.
The massive 1.2 million square foot building is set to include 800 units of luxury apartment rentals and condominiums, as well as a Yotel hotel and an off-Broadway Signature Theater complex designed by Frank Gehry, according to Related’s website.
The project lay fallow for years, landing it on the city’s list of stalled construction sites, and racked up so many complaints for vermin and standing water that would gather in its razed property that it earned the unenviable nickname “the Hell's Kitchen Swimming Hole.”
The project has since gained momentum, marking its topping-out ceremony — or celebration of reaching top of the building — on Aug. 4.
Related said on their website the project will be completed in 2011.
