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10 injured when crane drops massive air conditioner [DeBlasio's New York City]
Fox New York WNYW-TV ^

Posted on 06/01/2015 6:31:56 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper

A massive air-conditioning unit being lifted by a crane to the top of a midtown Manhattan office building broke free Sunday, fell 28 stories and landed in the middle of Madison Avenue, injuring 10 people.

Two were construction workers, while the others were pedestrians and occupants of passing cars. All were struck by debris that caused minor injuries.

(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxny.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: donatetoday; newsyesterday; nyc; permits
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Saw a story on this today....witnesses say it was OBVIOUS something was wrong from the beginning....deBlasio showed up, saying he was grateful to God there were no serious injuries and that he was praying for the victims.

Is it just me, or is the administration of NYC just more incompetent than in the recent past? Bloomberg wasn't great on policy, but seems to me the mechanics of the city were better run.

1 posted on 06/01/2015 6:31:56 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: SoFloFreeper

SOMEone just lost a good paying job !


2 posted on 06/01/2015 6:34:26 AM PDT by knarf
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To: SoFloFreeper

I don’t think you can blame something like this on a Mayor, construction accidents happen all the time in large cities no matter who is the mayor.


3 posted on 06/01/2015 6:35:34 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: knarf

Yup, a rigger somewhere is out of work, and may be facing civil and criminal charges if he falsified inspection info.


4 posted on 06/01/2015 6:37:56 AM PDT by wrench
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To: HamiltonJay
don’t think you can blame something like this on a Mayor, construction accidents happen all the time in large cities no matter who is the mayor.

Logically speaking, I would agree with you. But in Utopia, George Bush was responsible for climate change and earthquakes. So I'm ok with also blaming DeBlasio with the lack of solar sunspots if it is only a dot of mud on the wall.

Is that vindictive?

5 posted on 06/01/2015 6:38:58 AM PDT by Tenacious 1 (POPOF. President Of Pants On Fire.)
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To: wrench

I don’t know. In this day and age I can imagine the rigger being sent for more training instead of being fired. Then after returning, being given a raise because he now has more training.

/tongue only partially in cheek


6 posted on 06/01/2015 6:41:20 AM PDT by poindexter
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To: SoFloFreeper

Speaking from experience, politics aside, doing big, heavy, high pics in a downtown setting can be complicated particularly when it comes to wind. The wind through a big city scape can be unpredictable and gusty. Those can be dangerous conditions for crane pics. Either rigging broke or the operator dropped the load before twisting or tumbling the crane. Both are bad deals. I would be interested to understand the final accident details and root cause.


7 posted on 06/01/2015 6:42:07 AM PDT by Tenacious 1 (POPOF. President Of Pants On Fire.)
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To: Tenacious 1

The report I read yesterday said a strap broke. Good point about wind, and the picture I saw looked like the load was to be pulled horizontally, once at elevation. Could be the strap was cut during this maneuver. Plenty of speculation in my remark - but something went completely wrong, and if a strap just “broke,” it’s either gross negligence, or something other than simple overload. Safety factor on fabric parts of a lift is really high.


8 posted on 06/01/2015 6:49:35 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Tenacious 1
I like your reasonable answer.

When I drove flatbed, redundancy was the name of MY game .... I used more chain or strap, just because I had it ... and all the training films of years before were ever present in my memory

a 60 mph almost dead stop (like a night time rear ender) hauling 80,000 can rightly title that relatively small 4 or 6 inch pipe in back of you ... a headache bar.


What you say about city picks is right on.

9 posted on 06/01/2015 6:50:33 AM PDT by knarf
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To: SoFloFreeper

Its bad luck to go under large cranes.


10 posted on 06/01/2015 6:51:22 AM PDT by Paladin2 (Ive given up on aphostrophys and spell chek on my current device...)
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To: HamiltonJay

Yes. A huge construction crane collapsed about two weeks ago in Santa Clara, CA. Site was shut down for two days for investigation. They cleared out the old crane very quickly and a new one was working four days after the accident.


11 posted on 06/01/2015 6:58:06 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
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To: HamiltonJay
"...construction accidents happen"

That's true.

Inspections can only catch so much.

Booms fail, luckily no one was killed.

12 posted on 06/01/2015 7:00:54 AM PDT by Pietro
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To: SoFloFreeper

HVAC violence?


13 posted on 06/01/2015 7:01:14 AM PDT by rktman (Served in the Navy to protect the rights of those that want to take some of mine away. Odd, eh?)
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To: Paladin2

bad luck just another way to spell STUPIDITY.

Second thing everyone learns in construction, never put any part of your body under any raised load. What’s the first thing learned, when’s payday.


14 posted on 06/01/2015 7:02:03 AM PDT by X-spurt (CRUZ missile - armed and ready.)
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To: HamiltonJay

There were 2 crane accidents/collapses within the past 7 or so years in New York City, both involving the same company: New York Crane


15 posted on 06/01/2015 7:06:54 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: poindexter

“”I don’t know. In this day and age I can imagine the rigger being sent for more training instead of being fired. Then after returning, being given a raise because he now has more training.””

I agree if it were a city/gov’t job. But this was a solid blue collar union worker doing contract work and trying to earn a profit (very bad word for liberals).

So, he will be made to pay, even if it was a pure accident.


16 posted on 06/01/2015 7:10:47 AM PDT by wrench
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To: HamiltonJay

From June 23, 2014

“After years of waiting for justice to be done in a New York crane accident lawsuit, two families have been asked to wait once more as the judge declared a mistrial in their wrongful death civil suit against the owner of a New York crane company, who they blame for the death of two construction workers.

Six years to the day of the tragic 2008 collapse of a crane on an Upper East Side construction site that caused the crane cab to fall 200 feet killing crane operator, Donald Leo, and construction worker, Ramadan Kurtaj, the judge said that he had no choice but to stop the trial because the defendant was severely injured in a car wreck and could not act as a key witness in his own behalf. James Lomma, owner of New York Crane and Equipment, who suffered multiple fractures and has had several surgeries as a result of the wreck, is not expected to be able to testify for two to three months in the NY crane accident lawsuit.

After seeing the police report of the accident and speaking with the defendant’s surgeon, Dr. David Helfet at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez postponed the trial until at least September 9 when a new jury will be selected. Attorneys arguing on behalf of the workers’ families pushed to continue the trial but Judge Mendez said, “It is only fair to allow Mr. Lomma to be present at trial” and that Lomma had been “incapacitated through no acts of his own.”

The mistrial comes as a painful echo of their devastation two years ago in 2012 when Lomma was acquitted on all criminal charges including manslaughter for the same crane accident, even after his trusted mechanic pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and testified against him. ...”

http://thesandersfirm.com/2014/06/new-york-crane-accident-lawsuit-delayed-sudden-mistrial/


17 posted on 06/01/2015 7:14:21 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: Cboldt
Maybe it was a cheap Chinese-made rigging strap with falsified documentation "certifying" its compliance with the the standards and specs of whatever "institute" covers cranes and crane rigging.

I've seen bogus "Certifications" on ductile iron pipe, pre-cast concrete manhole sections, cast iron valve boxes, manhole frames, rings, covers, etc, made in China. I once had a supplier try to pawn off a shipment of Chinese-made cast iron manhole frames and covers which "met" all applicable ASTM standards, but which were so porous that air could readily pass though the "cast iron" and from which sand ran out of the pores when you handled them.

I have long suspected that certifications on many Chinese-made products are 100% counterfeit.

I do not know if it is a factor in this accident, but I will not be surprised if it turns out to be.

18 posted on 06/01/2015 7:18:33 AM PDT by WayneS
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To: wrench

I thought “rigger” was a forbidden term now.


19 posted on 06/01/2015 7:18:59 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Falcon 105)
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To: HamiltonJay

I may have been wrong about both of these accidents involving the same company (New York Crane), unless there was a 2nd involving them that I mistakenly recalled as this one below.

From Oct 29, 2012

“The crane atop one of Manhattan’s most prestigious addresses remained dangling precariously 1,000 feet above the ground on Tuesday as officials tried to determine how to safely secure it.

The snapping of the crane, at 157 West 57th Street, was one of the most visible and startling moments in New York in the hours before the full brunt of the storm arrived. And it occurred high above Central Park at what is supposed to be the city’s tallest building with residences and which has become a trophy address for some of the world’s richest people.

The winds picked up as Monday night fell and the crane twisted and turned, seemingly poised to fall at any moment, forcing the evacuation of several buildings.

When asked about how secure it was, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg answered bluntly: “Nobody knows.”

“We just don’t want to risk the lives of anyone trying to be a hero and secure it,” he said in an evening news conference.

Mr. Bloomberg said the main body of the crane, which rises 90-stories up the side of the building, seemed secure, as did the main cab. The arm of the crane, he said, appeared to have been lifted and flipped over the cab. The city, he said, was focused on ensuring that if it does fall, there is no loss of life. ...”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/nyregion/crane-accident-at-one57-in-midtown.html


20 posted on 06/01/2015 7:19:17 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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