A sad story from Greenpoint today.
A construction worker was killed while working on the 14-story 1 Java development, at Java and West streets. Lendlease, the property management company that also owns the ferry pier, owns the site.
“Unfortunately, around 9:15 AM, while a worker was attempting to attach an extension to an excavator behind me, that piece of equipment failed. The attachment collapsed and crushed and killed the victim,” commissioner of the City’s Department of Buildings Eric Ulrich told the press outside the construction site this afternoon.
“The victim’s family is being notified as we speak, and there’s an ongoing investigation right now, between the police department and the Department of Buildings to determine exactly what happened this morning, but we can confirm that there is one fatality on site.”
Commissioner Ulrich said that the construction worker was wearing his protective gear. A reporter asked about the construction site’s history and whether or not any previous violations have occurred. While Ulrich said there had been several 311 complaints made previously, none of them were substantiated. Though a full investigation needs to occur before they can identify if the complaints had any bearing on today’s incident, Ulrich revealed the complaints concerned noise and after-hours work.
A stop work order will be put in place today and a full review of other job sites owned by Lendlease will be conducted.
Greenpointers has reached out to the 94th precinct for comment.
So sad. My heart goes out to his family and friends. None of those complaints were substantiated? That is because no one comes in time to inspect. Demolition of two houses next to my house caused cracks in my house. I complained to the Building department and they never came to my house to inspect it. They closed the case and said “No demolition was being done”. Yeah, the next week when you finally stopped by!