4 Workers Hurt in Partial Collapse Near Grand Central, FDNY Says
MANHATTAN — Four workers were hurt in a Madison Avenue building Tuesday while taking down a large light fixture above a spiral staircase, the building's landlord and witnesses said.
The workers were trying to remove a large chandelier above the entrance on the first floor of 331 Madison Ave., near East 43rd Street and Grand Central Terminal, at 10:09 a.m. and were using a 4-foot marble banister on the mezzanine floor to brace themselves when the banister collapsed, a spokesman for the Department of Buildings said.
The men and the chandelier fell roughly 15 feet, officials said.
Three of the four workers were expected to be released from Bellevue HospitalTuesday while the fourth remained in stable condition, said a spokeswoman for SL Green, the company that owns the building.
Witnesses said they heard a large boom at the demolition site.
"When I heard the noise, I got closer and the three men were just lying there," said a worker who saw the aftermath but asked not to be named. "Three were breathing. One was bleeding from the mouth."
Three of the workers, who were helping make way for a proposed 65-story high-rise called One Vanderbilt, were aligned in a row with white debris scattered around them, according to a photo another worker took.
"When they fell, a heavy marble banister came down also with them," said FDNY Battalion Chief Tom Meara. "Some of the materials they were [demolishing] appears to have fallen on them. There was a chandelier also above them that appears to have come down."
It wasn't clear if the light fixture, which weighed hundreds of pounds, struck the workers, Meara said.
"The workers had removed whatever debris that was on top of them and they were not trapped when we got there," Meara added.
The Department of Buildings issued a full stop work order after the collapse, a spokesman said.
Three violations were also issued following the incident, one for failing to safeguard the site, one for failing to provide adequate fall protection and another one for failing to maintain adequate house keeping, the DOB spokesman said.
FDNY officials said the building was structurally sound.
The four men worked for Waldorf Demolition and their work was being overseen by Tishman Construction, according to SL Green's spokeswoman. A licensed site safety manager was also overseeing the process.
"Safety is our top priority; we're continuing to monitor the workers’ status and we will release information as soon as it's available," the spokeswoman added.
Both Waldorf Demolition and Tishman Construction were cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for breaching protocal concerning fall safety, records show.
Tishman was fined $7,000 in 2012 when OSHA inspectors found one of their sites breached the safety codes that protect workers from falling.
Likewise, Waldorf Demolition was cited in 2010 for breaching the federal codes concerning "fall protections criteria and practices" and had to shell out $5,000.
OSHA deemed both violations serious.
Neither Waldorf or Tishman immediately returned requests for comment.
An investigation is ongoing, the DOB said.
Related Stories
Rain Expected Until the Weekend, Forecasters Say
NEW YORK — Time to put on your rain boots and grab your umbrella. April showers are expected every day until Saturday.
“It’s not going to rain a lot, three quarters to one inch of rain in total," said Joe Pollina, a meteorologistat the National Weather Service.
"But it’s going to rain pretty frequently all the way through Saturday morning."
April's average rainfall is about 4.5 inches, Pollina said.
“We usually have pouring rain for one day or two. This week, it’s going to be lighter showers but more drawn-out,” he said.
Temperatures are also going to drop Wednesday and Thursday with highs in lower 40s.
It will start getting warmer on Friday and Saturday with highs in the 60s on both days, Pollina said.
Related stories
1,500 Pre-Schoolers To Compete for 325 Elite G&T Seats
MANHATTAN — It's getting harder for the city's 4-year-olds to qualify for the elite citywide gifted and talented programs, according to data the Department of Education released Monday.
Just 10 percent of 14,794 of preschoolers who took this year's test earned a score of 97 or above, enabling them to apply for a kindergarten seat in one of the five programs that take kids from across the city. That's down from 13 percent last year.
Still, the odds of getting a seat in one of these coveted programs will remain tough — since the 1,511 eligible students will compete for 325 seats. Usually only children earning in the 99th percentile have a shot at a seat.
"It’s critical that every student gets a fair shot at these unique programs, and that the gifted and talented test is accessible to all our students and their families while maintaining the same high standards," DOE spokesman Harry Hartfield said in a statement.
The DOE expects to change the test in the future — and had solicited bids for a new exam — but are delaying any changes for another year, school officials said, noting they extended the contract for testing giant Pearson.
Overall, 29 percent of pre-schoolers qualified for a G&T program, whether citywide or district (which requires a score of 90 or above). That was down from 31 percent last year.
"Even though there were a slightly lower percentage of kids going into kindergarten who qualified there still is big shortage of G&T seats available for both citywide and district wide programs," said Michael McCurdy, of the test prep company Testing Mom.
But he was pleased to hear the DOE would be using the same test again next year.
"It's good new for parents who have a child re-taking the test or taking the test for the first time," he said.
Manhattan's District 2 — stretching from TriBeCa to the Village and Chelsea to the Upper East Side — had 121 students that scored 99 on this year's tests, the highest in the city. Still, that number was down sharply from last year's 207 top scorers in District 2.
Queens' District 24, which includes Long Island City, Corona and Elmhurst, was the only one to see an increase in students scoring 99, from 21 students last year to 30 this year.
The application deadline for a seat at a G&T program is Apr. 23, according to the DOE.
MORE TOP STORIES
Churros Vendors Brave Arrest to Make a Living in the Subway System
MIDTOWN EAST — Ana Alvarado has been arrested seven times for selling churros in subway stations over the past two-and-a-half years, but she continues to do it to feed herself and her two kids, she said.
Once police arrest Alvarado, they confiscate the churros and take her to the local precinct, where she’s had to watch police officers eat her churros in front of her, she said. Then they toss what’s left of her inventory into a bag, she said.
“They take the churros, saying they need them for evidence and that they will return them, but they don’t return them,” said Alvarado, in Spanish. “When they get to the precinct, whoever wants one grabs one, and whatever is left they put in a black bag.”
NYPD did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the alleged eating of churros or to inquiries about the protocol for handling food confiscated during arrests.
Many of those arrested are given fines, and some have been held in a precinct holding cell overnight, according to the vendors.
Alvarado, a 43-year-old Elmhurst resident and an immigrant from Ecuador, peddles the sugary treats from a cart every day during rush hour from 3:30 to 7 p.m. in various subway stations including Times Square, Grand Central and 59th Street in Manhattan and the 74th Street station in Queens, she said.
She purchases the churros daily, usually 200 at a time for $46, from a factory in Jamaica, and makes about $80 to $120 in profit per day, she said.
If she gets arrested at one station, she just moves to the next one on the list, she said.
“We live running and hiding from police,” said Alvarado, a single mother of two sons ages 9 and 12. “If I don’t work, who is going to feed my kids?”
On March 28, three women were arrested in Union Square subway station for selling churros without a license to sell food, police said.
One of the women, 52-year-old Maria Yunga, was selling on the L train platform for about 20 minutes at about 11 p.m., when police approached her and asked her what she was doing, and then arrested her.
"When I go out [to sell in the subways], I have to go with my heart in my mouth," Yunga said in Spanish. "I don't know if the police are going to grab me."
She is due in court on May 14, she said.
Regarding the arrests, police cited law that deems it “unlawful for any individual to act as a food vendor without having first obtained a license" from the city Health Department.”
But in general, it is illegal to do any commercial activity in the subway system without authorization from the MTA, and obstructing the flow of traffic is also not permitted, according to MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
All three women arrested in Union Square were given desk appearance tickets, which means they are charged and given a summons that requires them to appear in court on a certain date, sources said.
In court, they’re issued a fine that can range from $50 to $1,000, depending on how frequently they’ve been arrested for the violation, sources said.
Alvarado was arrested seven times between 2013 and 2014. She’s been arrested twice at Grand Central, twice at Times Square and twice at the 74th Street station and once in the 59th Street station, she said.
On some of those occasions, Alvarado was held in a holding cell at the precinct overnight while she awaited her summons, she said.
She could not recall exactly which precincts held her.
“I tell police, ‘please don’t take me. You are taking food away from my children,’” Alvarado said. “Do you think it is just for them to arrest somebody for working and throw them in a cell with drug dealers and prostitutes?”
Alvarado only sells the churros in subway stations during the winter, and moves her operation to local parks when it gets warmer, she said.
Police have stopped her in parks too, but in those cases, she’s only been fined and not arrested, she said.
“[This type of arrests] is something that is incredibly common,” said Basma Eid, an organizer at The Street Vendor Project, an organization made up of 1,300 vendor members that’s fighting to end the criminalization of street vending.
Alvarado is a member of the group, but Yunga is not.
“And a lot of times people are treated violently when it comes to being arrested," Eid said. "They don’t want to be breaking the law, but at the end of the day, they’re trying to make money. A lot of times it’s their livelihood.”
Alvarado, who moved to the states 20 years ago, first started selling churros after her husband left her and their two kids several years ago.
She’s been making up for the lost income by cleaning houses in Queens by day, and selling churros by evening.
“My husband left us and he doesn’t pay so now what am I supposed to do?” she said. “The best thing I found was selling churros because I make $80 to $90 in one day, and I can still take care of my kids.”
The business allows her to accommodate her children’s schedules. When the kids aren’t in school, they follow her to the subway stations, she said.
Running into other churros vendors in the subway system is common, and although they’re not on a first name basis, she knows many of them by face, Alvarado said.
They don’t work together, but they’re courteous about spreading themselves out so it’s not too competitive. Many of them also warn each other if they see police, she said.
“The police laugh at the vendors,” she said. “I would like the police to put their hand on their heart and see that I am working to provide for my children.”
Following DNAinfo New York's initial report of arrests of churros vendors last month, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer wrote a letter to the MTA on April 2, urging the agency to provide legitimate venues for small businesses to work in subway stations.
"It appears the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority currently makes no allowances for mobile concessions," Brewer's letter states. "This is a shame, since a program allowing the MTA to selectively allow for mobile vendors could have many benefits for commuters and entrepreneurs alike.
"Immigrant entrepreneurs in our city need more avenues to support themselves and their families without creating a rap sheet, and there is clearly a market for mobile concessions in subways stations."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered