Shards of glass fell from the 38th floor of the Goldman Sachs tower onto Manhattan’s street and sidewalk.
A fourth incident has occurred at Manhattan’s Goldman Sachs Tower where dangerous debris or construction equipment has fallen since work on the tower began, according to Tribeca Trib.
Police shut down West Street on Saturday, November 28, 2009, in Battery Park City where shards of glass along with other fallen debris lay on the sidewalks and the street. It was reported that the glass from a windowpane had fallen from one of the windows under scaffolding from the 38th floor of the 740-feet tall tower Saturday afternoon.
The debris caused numerous traffic delays, which forced many commuters to find alternative routes of transportation. It was not reported if any passersby were injured. New York City’s Department of Buildings (DOB) www.nyc.gov temporarily stopped all construction work on the $2.4 billion facility. Officials suspect that the wind may have been a contributing factor to the fall.
The construction contracting company working on the Goldman Sachs tower is Tishman Construction. This potentially deadly incident was just one of several terrifying incidents that have taken place in the course of the building’s construction since 2007. An earlier incident occurred in December 2007where an architect was working onsite in a trailer when a crane holding tons of steel, dropped the heavy metal materials onto the trailer paralyzing the architect.
Another incident occurred in May, less than six months after the first serious injury, where work at the site was suspended for more than 30 days due a steel plate that had fallen off the tall tower and landed on the field of a Little League baseball game in Battery Park City.
In April 2009, another serious accident occurred when a worker’s hammer fell 17 stories and landed on the window of a taxicab as parents witnessed the account with their children nearby. Tishman Construction released a statement about this past horrifying situation stating that they want every safety matter to be dealt with accordingly, and the company wants to be as perfect as they can be. The company also apologized for the incident.
General contractors are bound by law to maintain a safe environment by following government safety regulations. A fatal or injurious construction worksite accident can cause a lot of heartache and trauma for the victimized families involved. What is also significant about this accident is that, as reported by Jonathan C. Reiter on April 14, 2009 after the hammer incident, Tishman had reported hiring an independent safety monitor and company leaders promised to take further initiatives to improve safety for workers and lower Manhattan area drivers and pedestrians.
News reported by New York personal injury attorney Jonathan C. Reiter, a construction accident lawyer. Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2811, New York, NY 10118. Telephone (212) 736-0979. www.jcreiterlaw.com
