MIDTOWN — The city ordered a halt to facade work on Midtown's Dream Hotel a day after a worker fell to his death from scaffolding at 210 West 55th Street, Department of Buildings records show.
The 40-year-old man, whose identity still has not been released, was standing on support scaffolding Wednesday afternoon, while working on the building's exterior when he fell 80 feet through an unprotected area after planks were removed, a DOB spokeswoman said.
The worker was undocumented and his death appears to be accidental, according to police sources.
The stop-work order was filed against Alpha General Contractor as well as a violation for "failure to safeguard all persons and property affected by construction operations," according to the DOB spokeswoman.
Officials could not say if the worker was wearing a safety harness at the time, but a nearby office worker told DNAinfo New York she often saw workers on the scaffolding without safety harnesses.
"We see work going on with people without harnesses and we're always worried that they would fall," Jennifer Harvey, 36, said Wednesday.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said they will conduct their own inspection to determine if any workplace safety standards were violated, a spokesman said in an email.
A spokesman for the Dream Hotel has not returned multiple requests for comment.
Alpha General Contractor also did not return an immediate request for comment.
