CIVIC CENTER — The judge overseeing the trial of a construction company charged with the death of a worker is expected to issue a verdict Friday at noon.
Harco Construction was the general contractor for the site at 9-19 Ninth Ave., formerly the restaurant Pastis that's now being developed into a Restoration Hardware flagship store by William Gottlieb Real Estate and Aurora Capital Associates.
Last April, Carlos Moncayo was crushed to death in an excavation pit that had not been properly secured.
Prosecutors charge that Harco and the subcontractor in charge of excavation, Sky Materials, were negligent in their haste to stay on schedule.
Moncayo was killed four days before his 23rd birthday.
The Manhattan District Attorney and the city's Department of Investigation launched an inquiry the day he died, ultimately turning up emails, phone calls and witness statements that they say prove Harco, its superintendent at the site, Alfonso Prestia, and Sky Materials, and its foreman Wilmer Cueva, allowed dangerous conditions to persist, resulting in Moncayo's death.
Harco's attorneys argued that what occurred was a "tragic accident," but also blame Sky and Cueva, because Moncayo was their employee and the excavation was their job.
Their separate trial has not yet begun.
Supreme Court Justice A. Kirke Bartley is expected to hand down a verdict in his courtroom in Part 94 at 100 Centre St. at noon on Friday. Workers rights activists plan to attend the hearing with Moncayo's family as a show of support.
