It turns out that the subcontractor overseeing the work on a West 37th Street construction project where a worker was killed in September has a history of safety code violations. The hotel construction site is at 326 West 37th Street in Manhattan.
According to the Department of Buildings (DOB), which oversees construction sites, there was no approach pit under the foundation to provide worker access. The DOB issued a stop-work order for the project.
The death occurred when the 27-year-old laborer from Jersey City, New Jersey, was working on the foundation removing dirt when an 8,000 pound concrete slab fell on him from an adjoining building. Another worker narrowly escaped falling debris.
The subcontractor, Park Side Construction, was fined in May 2014 because there was no fall protection for workers at another of the company’s projects at 81 Fleet Place.
New York State sued the company last year for failing to pay $174,000 in workers compensation insurance premiums. After last month’s accident, the Department of Buildings issued a violation to the adjoining building and also ordered that the building on the other side be partly vacated.
The owner of Cava Construction, which is listed as the general contractor for the project, is owned by Carmine Della Cava, who convicted of bid-rigging in the 1990s, according to a New York Times report in 2012.
According to news reports, the company representative at Park Side Construction hung up when telephoned by reporters about the fatality.