Showing posts with label cranes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cranes. Show all posts
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Construction crane mishap in Flushing
From NBC:
A construction truck suddenly fell on its side as crews were using its boom to haul beams at a site in Queens Wednesday, sending the crane-like piece of machinery onto several parked cars and partially into a wall nearby, according to buildings officials and dramatic surveillance video from the scene.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
2 workers die on Briarwood construction project
From Eyewitness News:
Two construction workers were killed after a steel beam fell on top of a crane's operator cab in Queens Tuesday.
It happened just after 12 p.m. near the intersection of 82nd Avenue and 134th Street in the Briarwood section, close to where the Van Wyck Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway intersect.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said the 6,500-pound beam dropped from the fourth floor of the building onto the crane.
Chandler said it appears the rigging rope may have failed while the beam was being lifted, causing the piece of steel to break loose and fall to the ground. Though, the investigation is still ongoing. Wind does not appear to be a factor in the accident.
"It was a 6,500-pound beam going up four stories. I would say the wind would not have a major factor on that," said Chandler.
The workers killed were identified as flag man Alessandro Ramos, 43, and crane operator George Smith, 47. Both were trapped in the wreckage and died at the scene.
Crains reports that this isn't the first work-related death for the contractor.
Labels:
accident,
Briarwood,
construction,
cranes,
death,
Rick Chandler
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
DOB may lift ban on crawler cranes
From Crains:
In the wake of the Feb. 5 accident, which cost 38-year-old David Wichs his life and damaged four buildings when the crane's boom crashed down along the north side of Worth Street, the city's Department of Buildings prohibited crawler cranes, which can be driven around on tank-like treads, from operating in sustained wind speeds topping 20 miles per hour.
Now a working group that was established to review the city's crane rules in the wake of the crash has recommended lifting that emergency ban. The requirements would revert to what they were before the accident: Cranes have to stop work when wind speeds hit either the manufacturer's specification, or 30 miles per hour at the maximum.
Should the city adopt the new temporary measures, it would appease construction firms, crane companies and workers, who had complained that the 20 mile-per-hour limit was forcing them to shut down so frequently that it was wreaking havoc on their business without necessarily improving safety.
But the working group, which had been criticized for lacking crane experts, also recommended two other measures as part of its proposal. One would require that an operator be on site for crawler cranes unless the crane is designed to operate in 30-mph or stronger winds or is in storage mode. The other would prohibit crawler cranes from being used in public areas if the machines can't safely withstand 20-mph winds.
In the wake of the Feb. 5 accident, which cost 38-year-old David Wichs his life and damaged four buildings when the crane's boom crashed down along the north side of Worth Street, the city's Department of Buildings prohibited crawler cranes, which can be driven around on tank-like treads, from operating in sustained wind speeds topping 20 miles per hour.
Now a working group that was established to review the city's crane rules in the wake of the crash has recommended lifting that emergency ban. The requirements would revert to what they were before the accident: Cranes have to stop work when wind speeds hit either the manufacturer's specification, or 30 miles per hour at the maximum.
Should the city adopt the new temporary measures, it would appease construction firms, crane companies and workers, who had complained that the 20 mile-per-hour limit was forcing them to shut down so frequently that it was wreaking havoc on their business without necessarily improving safety.
But the working group, which had been criticized for lacking crane experts, also recommended two other measures as part of its proposal. One would require that an operator be on site for crawler cranes unless the crane is designed to operate in 30-mph or stronger winds or is in storage mode. The other would prohibit crawler cranes from being used in public areas if the machines can't safely withstand 20-mph winds.
Labels:
ban,
cranes,
Department of Buildings,
safety,
wind
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Crane accident causes problems on 7 line
Significant damage to train tracks due to accident on elevated #7 Line. No service from Maim Street Station pic.twitter.com/ruO8MufWPK
— NYPD 109th Precinct (@NYPD109Pct) July 25, 2015
From Eyewitness News:
Service on the 7 subway line has currently been restored with delays after a crane-hoisting accident in Flushing, Queens.
The crane was lifting construction material to the rooftop of stores at about 1 p.m. when the hoist broke and the load was spilled onto the 7 tracks at Roosevelt Avenue and College Point Boulevard.
The debris apparently caused a small fire and smoke condition on the track.
Service was originally suspended in both directions, but resumed with residual delays just before 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
That A/C was too heavy to lift
From PIX11:
The mammoth 23,000-pound air conditioner that broke free from a crane and smashed into a midtown high-rise did more than just leave a gaping hole in the its facade.
The NYPD special operations team released photos that reveal the massive damage it did inside the building. The cooling unit was too heavy for the building’s floor to support, which caused it to bounce from the 29th to 11th floor.
Ten people were injured in the accident, including two traffic agents and a firefighter.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said the crane was in working condition at the time of the accident.
The crane was being operated by Greenpoint-based Skylift Contractor Corp but is owned by Queens-based Bay Crane, which have previously been rocked by scandal.
The buildings department cited a Skylift crane operator after he failed to secure a crane owned by bay crane, causing it to collapse at a financial district construction site in the middle of the night.
From NBC:
A day after a crane dropped a 23,000-pound air conditioner 30 stories onto a midtown sidewalk, one city official is charging that more could have been done to prevent the accident.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said nearly eight years after the city Department of Buildings spent more than $5 million on a study to make construction sites safer, the department has failed to implement many of the safety reforms recommended in the report.
In an interview with the I-Team, Stringer said the Department of Buildings has had years to implement simple reforms like installing so-called “black boxes” in cranes and hanging better protective netting around construction sites. But those recommendations still have not been implemented.
“Since we've issued our audit, nothing has changed nothing has happened," Stringer said of his 2014 audit. “I'm urging the Department of Buildings to dust off their own report and look at our audit and figure out are we doing enough to ensure safety of our citizens."
Monday, June 1, 2015
Crane drops A/C, injures 10 people
From the NY Post:
At least 10 people were injured when a construction crane dropped a massive heating and air-conditioning unit nearly 30 stories at a Midtown building Sunday, officials and witnesses said.
Workers were attempting to lift the unit into one of the Madison Avenue office building’s control rooms when the rigging strap holding it broke, sending it plummeting to the street around 10:45 a.m., said a source familiar with the investigation.
The metal rectangular unit struck the side of the building multiple times as it fell, sending glass and building debris raining down. The unit landed in the middle of Madison Avenue between 38th and 39th streets.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Cranes still unsafe
From the Daily News:
The city failed to make a host of safety changes it was supposed to implement after two deadly crane collapses, a scathing audit by the city controller’s office found.
The Department of Buildings shelled out $5.8 million to private consultants for a report that made 65 recommendations and to help implement the changes after the two 2008 accidents in Manhattan that killed a total of nine people.
Yet more than four years after the report was issued, only eight of the 65 recommendations had been fully put into place, the audit by Controller Scott Stringer found.
“When those cranes collapsed, so too did public confidence in how those construction sites were managed. The lack of a strong government commitment to fix this problem is inexcusable,” Stringer said.
Of the 65 recommendations, 17 were partially implemented and 18 were in progress, the audit found. But the biggest chunk, 22 or 34%, went nowhere.
The city failed to make a host of safety changes it was supposed to implement after two deadly crane collapses, a scathing audit by the city controller’s office found.
The Department of Buildings shelled out $5.8 million to private consultants for a report that made 65 recommendations and to help implement the changes after the two 2008 accidents in Manhattan that killed a total of nine people.
Yet more than four years after the report was issued, only eight of the 65 recommendations had been fully put into place, the audit by Controller Scott Stringer found.
“When those cranes collapsed, so too did public confidence in how those construction sites were managed. The lack of a strong government commitment to fix this problem is inexcusable,” Stringer said.
Of the 65 recommendations, 17 were partially implemented and 18 were in progress, the audit found. But the biggest chunk, 22 or 34%, went nowhere.
Labels:
audit,
comptroller,
cranes,
Department of Buildings,
safety,
Scott Stringer
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
More trouble at precarious crane site
From the Daily News:
The city partially halted work at an upscale residential building Monday after a crane malfunction left a 35,500-pound weight dangling above West 57th St.
The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. as the city braced for high winds and heavy rain.
The crane was lifting the massive counterweight and was about 30 stories high when its mechanism jammed, a spokesperson for the Dept. of Buildings said.
DOB slapped the condo development at 157 West 57th St. with a partial stop work order pending a full investigation of the faulty crane.
When One57 is completed later this year it will be the city's tallest residential building at 1,004 feet. One luxury condo has already sold for $90 million.
FDNY and NYPD initially responded to the scene and closed 57th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves for most of the day.
No injuries were reported. By 4 p.m. the counterweight had been safely lowered and the crane put out of commission until it passed a safety inspection.
The One57 site has had similar problems before. Last October a different crane at the same location came unglued during Superstorm Sandy.
The huge piece of machinery toppled during the storm and was left hanging precariously. Workers eventually dismantled the crane.
Labels:
cranes,
Department of Buildings,
FDNY,
luxury condos,
manhattan,
NYPD,
stop work order
Monday, June 18, 2012
Junkies at the docks
From the NY Post:
Scores of crane operators and other workers handling tons of heavy and sometimes hazardous cargo at Port Authority docks are high as kites, and at least two enforcement agencies are probing the drug use.
Heroin addict Lawrence Schmidt Jr. was driving a truck pulling giant containers at Port Newark when a foreman noticed him swerving and slowing down, legal papers obtained by The Post show.
Schmidt later admitted he was a heroin user and had been asleep at the wheel that day. His longshoreman registration with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor was revoked last year.
The commission, a federal agency set up to combat corruption at New York and New Jersey ports, revealed to The Post that it launched 84 drug probes in the last two years, netting 33 workers who tested positive for drugs. Some were fired, and others suspended or sent to rehab.
“The fact is, they are very well paid and don’t have a lot of work to do. They are kids who are somebody’s nephew earning 130K to 140K a year,” another source said.
The 33 druggies are likely the tip of the iceberg among 5,300 dock workers. The commission investigates only when it learns of an arrest or gets a tip. Companies that run the ports can do their own testing and don’t have to report the results.
The commission has been stymied in its recent efforts to do drug testing.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Rude awakening in Hollis
From the NY Post:
A Queens man went to sleep thinking he'd found the perfect parking space for his beloved 1991 Honda Civic, but got a rude awakening yesterday when he found it had been crushed by a toppling crane.
"I love that car," a stunned Kevin Singh said at his Hollis home. "A friend gave it to me as a gift in October last year."
Singh, 38, was in bed when the cherry-picker crane fell across Hollis Avenue at 195th Street shortly before 9 a.m.
As it turned out, workers were using it to make roof repairs on the building where Singh lives.
There were no injuries, but plenty of upset motorists forced to detour around the wreckage, which blocked the two-way street from sidewalk to sidewalk.
A Queens man went to sleep thinking he'd found the perfect parking space for his beloved 1991 Honda Civic, but got a rude awakening yesterday when he found it had been crushed by a toppling crane.
"I love that car," a stunned Kevin Singh said at his Hollis home. "A friend gave it to me as a gift in October last year."
Singh, 38, was in bed when the cherry-picker crane fell across Hollis Avenue at 195th Street shortly before 9 a.m.
As it turned out, workers were using it to make roof repairs on the building where Singh lives.
There were no injuries, but plenty of upset motorists forced to detour around the wreckage, which blocked the two-way street from sidewalk to sidewalk.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Bribe maker gets 2 years in prison
From the NY Post:
A Long Island crane company official will spend two to six years behind bars after he was found guilty of bribing the city’s former chief crane inspector.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance announced the sentencing today of Michael Sackaris, 50, the owner of Nu-Way Crane Service in Suffolk County from 2002 to 2007.
"Fatal crane accidents have cut short too many lives in New York City," said Vance. "Bribing a city employee -- particularly one charged with ensuring the public's safety -- is more than a criminal affront to the taxpayers who expect honest services from the city's workforce. It put New Yorkers at an unnecessary and unacceptable risk."
Vance also said city residents were "fortunate that no one was directly injured by the defendant's actions."
Sackaris gave about 20 cash bribes, from $200 to $500 each time, between December 2000 and January 2008 to James Delayo, who served as the buildings department’s acting chief inspector of cranes and derricks, Vance said.
Delayo was sentenced in June to two to six years in prison for taking bribes to fake inspection and licensing exam results.
A Long Island crane company official will spend two to six years behind bars after he was found guilty of bribing the city’s former chief crane inspector.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance announced the sentencing today of Michael Sackaris, 50, the owner of Nu-Way Crane Service in Suffolk County from 2002 to 2007.
"Fatal crane accidents have cut short too many lives in New York City," said Vance. "Bribing a city employee -- particularly one charged with ensuring the public's safety -- is more than a criminal affront to the taxpayers who expect honest services from the city's workforce. It put New Yorkers at an unnecessary and unacceptable risk."
Vance also said city residents were "fortunate that no one was directly injured by the defendant's actions."
Sackaris gave about 20 cash bribes, from $200 to $500 each time, between December 2000 and January 2008 to James Delayo, who served as the buildings department’s acting chief inspector of cranes and derricks, Vance said.
Delayo was sentenced in June to two to six years in prison for taking bribes to fake inspection and licensing exam results.
Labels:
bribery,
cranes,
Cy Vance,
district attorney
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Crane inspector gets 2 year sentence
From the NY Post:
The former chief crane inspector for the Department of Buildings apologized this morning as he was sent to prison for two years for a bargain-basement bribe scheme that put under-qualified people behind the controls of 200-foot-high "cherry picker" cranes.
Prosecutors were only able to prove he took $10,000 over the course of seven years to pass cranes through inspection and sell operating licenses to a handful of workers at a Long Island crane company, Nu-Way Crane Service.
In at least one case, Delayo signed off on an operating license to a crane operator who had never even taken his drivers exam.
The former chief crane inspector for the Department of Buildings apologized this morning as he was sent to prison for two years for a bargain-basement bribe scheme that put under-qualified people behind the controls of 200-foot-high "cherry picker" cranes.
Prosecutors were only able to prove he took $10,000 over the course of seven years to pass cranes through inspection and sell operating licenses to a handful of workers at a Long Island crane company, Nu-Way Crane Service.
In at least one case, Delayo signed off on an operating license to a crane operator who had never even taken his drivers exam.
Labels:
bribery,
building inspectors,
corruption,
cranes,
prison
Friday, May 21, 2010
Crane owner pleads guilty to bribery
From The Real Deal:
As expected, Michael Sackaris and his company Nu-Way Crane Service pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. And a company employee, Michael Pascalli, pleaded guilty to a charge of offering a false instrument for filing, in connection with the bribing of a Department of Buildings official. The arrests followed the March 2008 deadly Azure condominium crane collapse at 333 East 91st Street. Sackaris paid James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at DOB, to complete and file false paperwork with the agency on about 20 occasions, indicating that Nu-Way had passed city inspections, when in fact the cranes had not been inspected at all, or only in a perfunctory way, the DA's office said. On six other occasions, the DA's office said, Sackaris paid Delayoto certify that Nu-Way employees, including Pascalli, seeking crane operator licenses passed their examinations. Delayo pleaded guilty in March on bribery charges. The three defendants will be sentenced July 13.
As expected, Michael Sackaris and his company Nu-Way Crane Service pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. And a company employee, Michael Pascalli, pleaded guilty to a charge of offering a false instrument for filing, in connection with the bribing of a Department of Buildings official. The arrests followed the March 2008 deadly Azure condominium crane collapse at 333 East 91st Street. Sackaris paid James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at DOB, to complete and file false paperwork with the agency on about 20 occasions, indicating that Nu-Way had passed city inspections, when in fact the cranes had not been inspected at all, or only in a perfunctory way, the DA's office said. On six other occasions, the DA's office said, Sackaris paid Delayoto certify that Nu-Way employees, including Pascalli, seeking crane operator licenses passed their examinations. Delayo pleaded guilty in March on bribery charges. The three defendants will be sentenced July 13.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Corrupt crane inspector pleads guilty
From the NY Post:
The city's former chief cranes inspector took a two-to-six-year prison plea today, admitting he repeatedly sold answers to the crane operator licensing test -- and the licenses themselves -- for as little as $500 a pop.
Disgraced Department of Buildings official James Delayo and his bargain-basement greed put at least a handful of under-qualified people behind the controls of the 200-foot-high, 50-ton cranes known as "cherry pickers."
Delayo, 61, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty to pocketing petty bribes -- prosecutors could only prove he took a little over $10,000 over the course of 7 years -- to pass cranes through inspection.
Prosecutors said he sold his favors to the owner of a Long Island-based crane company, Nu-Way Crane Service, which employed 13 operators.
The Copiague-based company's owner, Michael Sackaris, remains charged with bribery in the case, as is one of his crane operators, Michael Pascalli. Prosecutors say Pascalli, 24, bribed Delayo to sign off on a drivers exam he never took.
The city's former chief cranes inspector took a two-to-six-year prison plea today, admitting he repeatedly sold answers to the crane operator licensing test -- and the licenses themselves -- for as little as $500 a pop.
Disgraced Department of Buildings official James Delayo and his bargain-basement greed put at least a handful of under-qualified people behind the controls of the 200-foot-high, 50-ton cranes known as "cherry pickers."
Delayo, 61, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty to pocketing petty bribes -- prosecutors could only prove he took a little over $10,000 over the course of 7 years -- to pass cranes through inspection.
Prosecutors said he sold his favors to the owner of a Long Island-based crane company, Nu-Way Crane Service, which employed 13 operators.
The Copiague-based company's owner, Michael Sackaris, remains charged with bribery in the case, as is one of his crane operators, Michael Pascalli. Prosecutors say Pascalli, 24, bribed Delayo to sign off on a drivers exam he never took.
Labels:
bribery,
corruption,
cranes,
Department of Buildings,
inspectors
Friday, January 22, 2010
Not a great place for a crane...
La G planes and cranes don't mix
By BILL SANDERSON, NY Post
Bonehead construction workers erected a crane on a barge in the middle of Flushing Bay -- right in the path of planes headed for La Guardia Airport.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the Jan. 8 incident, although a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said some planes had to be diverted until the barge was moved.
FAA rules allow construction cranes near airports -- if they are kept safely away from flight paths.
The crane was being used to build a trash-transfer station in College Point, 2,000 feet across the bay from La Guardia's Runway 13/31.
Critics have said the trash-transfer station itself will pose an aviation hazard, since garbage draws birds, like the Canada geese that brought down US Airways Flight 1549 last year.
But the FAA and the Port Authority signed off on the city Department of Sanitation project. The city says the transfer station will be sealed tightly enough to keep birds away.
By BILL SANDERSON, NY Post
Bonehead construction workers erected a crane on a barge in the middle of Flushing Bay -- right in the path of planes headed for La Guardia Airport.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the Jan. 8 incident, although a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said some planes had to be diverted until the barge was moved.
FAA rules allow construction cranes near airports -- if they are kept safely away from flight paths.
The crane was being used to build a trash-transfer station in College Point, 2,000 feet across the bay from La Guardia's Runway 13/31.
Critics have said the trash-transfer station itself will pose an aviation hazard, since garbage draws birds, like the Canada geese that brought down US Airways Flight 1549 last year.
But the FAA and the Port Authority signed off on the city Department of Sanitation project. The city says the transfer station will be sealed tightly enough to keep birds away.
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