By Mike Schnitzel
Workers were doing masonry work on the third floor of the hotel, a new addition to the structure, when the weight of their equipment caused the scaffolding to collapse, sending workers and their equipment crashing to the ground. "The amount of brick and masonry materials they had were too much for the scaffolding to support," Frusci said.
The most serious injury was sustained by a worker whose arm was impaled by a piece of metal rebar as he landed, police said. The workers were taken to three area hospitals for treatment.
Lynbrook Building Superintendent Michael Ryder said that a stop work order was issued immediately, and the site would be subjected to a safety inspection by the Occupation Safety and Health Administration. "We've got to make sure that the scaffolding was erected to OSHA specifications," Ryder said. The work site had all proper permits, he said. According to Village Trustee Richard Clifford, who was at the scene of the accident, there had not been any problems at the site during the past few weeks, since work has commenced on the Sunrise Highway side of the building.
The project was the second part of an ongoing renovation of the hotel undertaken by owners Sunrise One LLC. According to Village Administrator John Giordano, work on the site is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Renovations of the Sunrise Executive Hotel buildings on the east side of Ocean Avenue, which have a Rockville Centre address, were included in the first phase of the project. According to a building permit posted on the front door of that property, the initial phase of renovations included the replacement of an existing wall, paving and landscaping. A new fence required a separate permit. The total cost of the project was $60,000.
Representatives of Sunrise One could not be reached for comment. Diamond Construction, which, according to the Lynbrook Building Department, has been contracted to work on concrete masonry units, also could not be reached, and employees who were at the scene of the accident declined to comment.
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516)569-4000 ext. 265.
