Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Worker Hurt While Dodging Crane at Accident-Plagued Hotel Site, City Says

By Aidan Gardiner | March 23, 2017 10:20am

UPDATED

MANHATTAN — A worker was injured when he tripped while dodging a crane at a construction site plagued with complaints about dangerous work conditions and injuries Thursday morning, officials said.

The worker, whose identity wasn't immediately released, was trying to move out of the way of a crane when he tripped on the ground floor of 701 Seventh Ave., near West 47th Street, about 7:20 a.m., according to FDNY and Department of Buildings officials.

The worker injured his chin and was treated at Bellevue Hospital, officials said.

The DOB's website initially reported that they were told an I-beam fell on the worker and seriously injured him, but spokesman for the department, Andrew Rudansky, later clarified that he'd simply tripped.

The Thursday injury is the latest in a litany of complaints about unsafe conditions and worker injuries that have plagued the Seventh Avenue work site — which is slated to become a Marriott Hotel, according to the city's Department of Finance and DOB records.

On May 31, 2016, people complained that crane cable was hanging over the street, causing traffic delays. A battery with a harness also tumbled to the street that day, records show.

About a month later, a driver complained that his windshield was damaged while he was waiting at the nearby intersection, records show.

Then on Sept. 2, one worker cut his finger with a wood saw while another was injured when a steel beam fell on his foot, records show. Both brought themselves to urgent care facilities, officials said.

Then in October and November, workers were cut their hands, injured their hips by tripping on planks and getting hit in the lip with rebar, officials said.

On March 9 of this year, Buildings reported that a caller said "that construction site seems unsafe."