By Dan Israeli
According to New York City Department of Buildings reports, the collapse, at the corner of 91st Street and 1st Avenue, occurred when both the cab of the crane and its boom, or long arm, separated from the machine's tower and plummeted onto a 23-story apartment building. The crane's operator, Donald Leo, 30, and worker Ramadan Kurtas, 27, were killed in the accident, according to the New York City medical examiner's office. Another worker was seriously injured.
The accident marked the second time in three months that a New York City construction crane collapsed. The first collapse occurred on March 15 on East 50th Street, killing seven people and demolishing a four-story town house.
Last week's incident occurred after a handful of complaints were made about the crane and there were two work stoppages, according to the Buildings Department. The first stoppage occurred when the crane failed a load test, which determines the machine's weight resistance, on April 22. According to Don Miller, a spokesman for DeMatteis, the crane failed the test because it was incorrectly calibrated. When it was recalibrated, the work stoppage was lifted.
The next day, however, a stop-work order was issued again, when, during a second load test, the crane's operator accidentally broke a switch that controls the boom's motor. City inspectors also found hydraulic fluid leaking from the crane's drum, according to acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri. Both problems were reported to be fixed, and the second work stoppage was lifted on April 26.
The project, according to Miller, is a 34-story, 128-unit luxury co-op, which will include a five-story elementary school. The development is a partnership among DeMatteis; the Mattone Group LLC, another developer; and the city. The crane, a Kodiak model, is owned by New York Crane & Equipment Corp. and was being operated at the time of the accident by the project's concrete subcontractor, Sorbara Construction Corp. of Lynbrook. Sorbara could not be reached for comment.
Miller said that the crane was deemed "safe to operate" by the Buildings Department in April, after the problems that caused the work stoppages were solved. The project, which began in April 2006, is scheduled for completion in June 2009.
LiMandri expressed his remorse in a press release issued the day of the accident. "I am deeply troubled by the devastating accident that took place today at East 91st Street and my heart goes out to the families of the workers killed and injured," he said. LiMandri suspended all tower crane operations in New York City over the weekend, and said that the Buildings Department would conduct its own investigation into the cause of the accident, in which "forensic experts will be focusing on a particular weld that failed and will be fully examining the crane model - Kodiak - which is no longer in production."
There are currently four other Kodiak cranes being used in the city, built by the Kodiak Crane Corp., which dissolved in 1982. LiMandri ordered an immediate reinspection of them and a review of all their maintenance logs, in the hope of ensuring that whatever caused the East 91st Street accident was an isolated incident.
LiMandri has served as acting buildings commissioner since April, when then Commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned a month after the first deadly crane accident. On May 18, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and LiMandri announced that the Buildings Department had received $5.3 million to hire 63 inspectors to enhance oversight and enforcement of construction safety.
While the accident involved the project's subcontractor, Miller said that the DeMatteis Organizations could not comment about its liability. A Long Island family-owned business, DeMatteis was founded in 1918, and has been a pre-eminent builder of public schools for the past 90 years. The company, whose signature building is RexCorp Plaza in Uniondale, has been headquartered at 820 Elmont Road since 1949.
After the accident, the company posted the following statement on its Web site: "First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those affected by this terrible tragedy. We are currently in the process of gathering all the facts surrounding this unfortunate accident and will provide more details as they become available."
Comments about this story? DIsraeli@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
