Construction worker falls to death outside Manhattan building

A construction worker died Monday morning after falling from a building in the Upper West Side, officials said.

The incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. at 263 West End Ave. in Manhattan, the FDNY and Department of Buildings said. A preliminary investigation by the DOB found that the worker, who the NYPD described as a 36-year-old man, was installing netting around a supported scaffold at the 15th floor level when fell to the sidewalk shed below, according to DOB spokesperson Andrew Rudansky.

Records show the DOB has issued a full stop work order at the site, which is issued when a site is determined to have unsafe conditions.

The worker’s identity was not immediately released, but the DOB confirmed that he worked for Rennon Construction Corp. The general contractor at the work site was listed as J & S Waterproofing.

The owners of the 23-story building have active work permits for façade repair and the supported scaffold, Rudansky said.

A person who answered the phone at Rennon Construction Corp said they had no information. Attempts at reaching the building’s management as well as J & S Waterproofing were not successful.

“Construction workers in our city deserve a safe working environment, and incidents like today’s fatal fall are completely unacceptable,” DOB spokesperson Ryan J. Degan said in a statement. “We are conducting a thorough investigation, along with our partners in law enforcement, into exactly how this could have happened, and to determine whether any corners were cut on the job which may have been contributing factors.”

Monday’s death was the second building construction fatality in New York City this month, the DOB confirmed, but the other fatality did not involve a supported scaffold.

Earlier this year, the New York Legislature passed Carlos’s Law, named after construction worker Carlos Moncoya who died on the job in 2015. The law, which has not yet been signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, seeks to protect workers by drastically increasing the fines employers face for unsafe working conditions leading to death to between $500,000 and $1 million, up from a current maximum of $10,000.

Rudansky said additional enforcement actions are pending the DOB’s ongoing investigation.

The article was published on gothamist.com