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Worker Critically Injured as Elevator Crushes Him on Lafayette St.: FDNY

By  Ben Fractenberg and Aidan Gardiner | July 5, 2017 12:11pm | Updated on July 6, 2017 11:38am

 FDNY rescued a worker at 380 Lafayette St. near Great Jones on July 5, 2017.
FDNY rescued a worker at 380 Lafayette St. near Great Jones on July 5, 2017.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

NOHO — An elevator worker was critically injured and may lose an arm after the lift he was working on fell on him in a Lafayette Street building Wednesday morning — the second such incident in the city in fewer than 24 hours, FDNY and NYPD officials said.

The worker, whose identity wasn't immediately released, was doing some "routine repairs" in an elevator shaft next to the Great Jones Street entrance to 380 Lafayette St. when the lift car landed on him, crushing his arm, officials said.

"It was a freak accident," said another worker who was with him, but wouldn't give his name.

"It sounded like a bulldozer fell over. I heard screaming, the guy screaming for three minutes," said Jeff Kaplan, 28, who was working across the street at the time.

Rescue crews used a hoist on a ladder to raise the elevator up enough for them to pull the worker to safety, FDNY officials said.

Great Jones Elevator

The worker was pinned under an elevator that is used to bring down supplies from Great Jones Street to the basement of 380 Lafayette St. (DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg)

"The rescue medics got access to him. They were able to get him some drugs and had him out in about 10 minutes," said FDNY Battallion Chief Martin Lindquist.

He was then taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was being treated for life-threatening injuries, officials said. As of Thursday, he was expected to survive, an NYPD spokesman said.

Lindquist praised the responding officers.

"The guys did a great job. They were here quick. They knew exactly what to do. They did a real nice job," Lindquist said.

The company that employed the worker, Major Elevator, didn't immediately return a request for comment.

The Department of Buildings issued a stop work order for the elevator, which was last inspected in April, and were investigating the cause of the incident, an agency spokesman said.