Following the tragic death of architect Erica Tishman who was killed by falling debris in Times Square, New York two days ago, Inside Edition looked at previous cases of victims struck by falling debris.
They talked to our client Jayson Greene who lost his 2 year old daughter Greta after a brick fell on her. At the time of the accident, Greta was sitting on her grandmother’s lap on a bench in the Upper West Side of Manhattan (see more info in previous blog). Jason told Inside Edition that no one in New York City should fear for their life when walking in the street. He felt very sad for the family of Erica Tishman who will have to endure the same tragedy his family went through when his daughter was killed.
Our partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents the family of Greta Green told Inside Edition: “I hope this is a lesson for those building owners who are taking short cuts to say, ‘no more, no more, we’re not going to allow this to happen to people in this city or any other city.’”
Building owners in New York City have a duty to keep their building reasonably safe. Unfortunately many of them are negligent and let their buildings fall into disrepair. According to records from the NYC Department of Buildings, 1331 facades are deemed unsafe and in need of maintenance in New York City. A day after Erica Tishman died, another pedestrian was injured by falling ice just 9 blocks away from the deadly accident.
Falling debris often results in serious injuries or in death. In order to bring a claim against a building owner, the plaintiff must prove that the owner was aware or should have been aware of the dangerous conditions of the building. With regard to the death of Erica Tishman the managing agent of the building had been issued a violation in April by the Department of Buildings for failing to properly maintain the exterior building facade. Therefore as soon as they are retained, our premises liability attorneys always perform a thorough independent investigation of their client’s accident to ensure they obtain all the critical evidence. In the past, our firm has helped multiple families obtain fair compensation for their loss. One of our clients was severely injured by falling ice and another one miraculously survived after a rooftop fence fell on his head and split his skull in half causing a serious brain injury. In another case we represented the family of a man who was killed by a falling air conditioning unit. For all of them we obtained multi million dollar recoveries.
Read more here