TRIBECA — The widow of a "brilliant" mathematician who was crushed to death by a 565-foot crane that toppled in TriBeCa in February plans to sue the city for $600 million.
Rebecca Wichs, the wife of 38-year-old David Wichs, filed a notice of claim against the city with the comptroller's office — the first step in eventually suing — asking for $600 million to compensate for his loss and the city's "negligence" that led to his death.
Wichs was killed moments after construction workers were trying to lower the crawler crane and secure it as 25 mph winds gusted through the area about 8:24 a.m., sending its massive arm smashing onto Worth Street stretching from West Broadway to Church Street as he walked along the street.
According to the notice of claim, the city allowed for the "unsafe, hazardous and dangerous" use of the crane and should have done a better job in bringing down the crane earlier in the face of wind and wet snow, as well as better securing the street from pedestrians.
Rebecca Wichs is asking for $550 million for her husband's wrongful death, $25 million to compensate for his “conscious pain and suffering," and "fear of impending doom" — since he must have known the crane was about to crush him — and an additional $25 million for her "loss of services," which refers to her loss of his companionship.
David Wichs, a Czech immigrant who worked as a trader and lived with his wife on the Upper West Side, was described as "the most brilliant person ever" by his sister-in-law in an interview with the Associated Press.
Falling debris from the accident injured several other people. One of the men seriously injured, 73-year-old Thomas O'Brien, who suffered spinal and skull fractures after the crane smashed the car he was sitting inside, is also planning to sue the city for $30 million.
In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued emergency crane regulations in the city, calling for cranes to be secured when winds were forecast to consistently exceed 20 mph or when gusts were predicted to exceed 30 mph, while a special task force studied best practices for crane operations.
But less than two months after the change, the task force recommended relaxing the restrictions, allowing for cranes to once again operate in 30 mph winds — the city's original limit — in what critics reportedly saw as a bow to pressure from construction companies.
“The Comptroller’s Office has determined that this claim cannot be settled pre-litigation,” Eric Sumberg, a spokesperson for the comptroller said in a statement.
