A construction worker was crushed to death Monday when piece of an excavator, pictured here, fell on him at an under-construction apartment complex on Java St. on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
A 46-year-old construction worker was crushed to death when a 2,000-pound piece of machinery broke off and fell on him at a Brooklyn construction site Monday morning, police said.
Workers at the under-construction apartment complex on Java St. near West St. in Greenpoint were in the beginning stages of the 14-story project, using an excavator to move pipes, a Department of Buildings spokesman said.
A construction worker was crushed to death Monday when piece of an excavator fell on him at an under-construction apartment complex on Java St. on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
While the victim was securing construction materials to the excavator, a large piece of the arm, weighing at least a ton, broke and fell on top of him, the spokesman said.
The victim died at the scene. His name was not immediately released.
The city Buildings Department issued a full stop work order at the site after the fatal mishap as the agency, OSHA and police investigated what went wrong, including the possibility it was caused by negligence on the part of supervisors at the site.
The construction worker's body is covered at the under-construction apartment complex in Brooklyn on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
“Nothing is more important than keeping New Yorkers safe, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the public, including members of the construction industry,” Buildings Department Commissioner Eric Ulrich said in a statement.
A construction worker was crushed to death Monday when piece of an excavator, pictured here, fell on him at an under-construction apartment complex on Java St. on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
So far this year, five people have been killed in construction-related incidents citywide, the spokesperson said. The figure is a downtick from the same timeframe in 2021, when there were seven deaths.
Construction related injuries across the city have declined by 33% since 2018, the agency said.
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News