Tragedy struck Mott Haven Wednesday when an elevator collapsed at the home of the former historic Ruppert Ice House at 20 Bruckner Boulevard, killing a construction worker and injuring another.
According to the NYPD, on May 19, at 8 a.m., police responded to a call of a collapsed elevator and upon arrival found two unconscious and unresponsive adult males inside of an elevator.
EMS responded to the scene and pronounced one male deceased. The second man, 29-years-old, was transported to NYC Health & Hospitals/Lincoln in critical condition.
According to Department of Buildings Spokesman Andrew Rudansky, the two construction workers were using the elevator at the work site to transport construction debris between floors, when the elevator fell to the bottom floor. This address has active construction permits for a major alteration and vertical enlargement of the existing building.
The DOB has issued a full stop work order for the entire site. The investigation into is ongoing and enforcement actions are pending the results.
“Every worker who leaves for the job site in the morning deserves to come home safely at night,” Rudansky said. “We are committed to finding out how this tragic incident occurred, and if we find that safety rules were ignored, we will hold those responsible to account. Along with our partners in law enforcement, investigators from our Construction Safety and Elevator Enforcement units will be conducting a thorough investigation of the events that led up to this incident.”
