Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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Harleen Maggo died in a NYC fire accidentA Queens Village family who was celebrating an upcoming wedding was caught in a massive fire that quickly ravaged their house killing 3 of them and injuring many others. The house located on 211th Street and 93rd Road didn’t seem to have working smoke detectors. 32 year old Harleen Maggo (see picture), a mother of two and her parents Ragvir Kaur-Kainth, 82, and Pyara Kainth, 87  all died in the fire that erupted a little bit before midnight on Saturday night. Harleen’s two children, were also trapped in the fire but were able to be rescued by the firefighters. The 8 year old girl was in critical condition while the 6 year old boy was stable. Seven other people who were also trapped in the fire were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.  Harleen Maggo had been able to escape but she decided to go back in the house on fire to try to save her parents. She never made it back outside. The house was full of wedding guests partying when the fire started. Investigators are still trying to figure out the cause of the fire. Read more in the NY Daily News  Picture source: Facebook

No working smoke alarm either in another NYC fire that erupted 6 hours later

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Vision Zero Initiatives have helped decrease traffic accident deaths in New York City especially for pedestrians and bicyclists  but the number of people injured in auto accidents during the first three months of the year has been on a rising trend. Distracted driving is the number one cause of accidents in the city and might be a factor leading to this high number of car accident injuries.

The number of motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first semester stayed over 50,000 for the last 3 years. During the first trimester of 2018, 52,317 accidents were reported to the NYPD. Since 2013 the number of accidents in the City has been on a steady rising trend. From 46,438 during the first trimester of 2013, they reached a peak at 53,050 in the first trimester of 2016, slightly decreasing in the first trimester of 2017 and going slightly back up this year.

Motor vehcile accidents NYC first trimester 2018
12,920 people were injured in these 52,317 accidents. This is the highest number of personal injuries related to traffic accidents in New York City during the first trimester of any year  since Vision Zero started in 2013. 11,676 were injured in accidents during the first trimester of 2013. This number went down to 10,805 during the first trimester of 2014 and continued to decline to 10,069 for the same period of 2015. After that injuries went back up to respectively 11,939 and 12,608 for the first 3 months  of 2016 and 2017.

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lead-poisoningMany children were poisoned by lead in New York as the result of the city neglecting to inspect and fix lead paint hazards in  apartments belonging to the New York City Housing Authority. Some children died and others now have to attend special-education programs and will never be able to live a normal life. Despite multiple lawsuits De Blasio was recently heard saying “Thank God there has not been harm done to any child because of the mistakes that have been made.” bFor some weird reasons the mayor is still trying to cover for the disastrous NYCHA behavior.

In a recent article the Daily News looks at the story of Juana Bison, the mother of two twin daughters who lived in Cypress Hills Houses. In 2001 after her twin daughters were born, Juana complained about the painting chipping and peeling in her apartment. She was scared that the paint might contain lead and could harm her twins. She asked NYCHA to fix it. Instead of fixing it, a NYCHA worker forged Juana’signature and signed a form indicating that Juana’s apartment had been inspected and no lead paint was found.

When the two daughters were two-yer-old the mother took them for a medical check-up that found a blood-lead level of 20 micro-grams per deciliter in one of the girls. This level is five time the level deemed acceptable by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This level is dangerous and can affect the development of a child. The other child was ok.

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Trinity Grace ChurchA NYC hard had suffered critical injury after he fell from scaffolding at a church construction site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  The man who was employed by 4M Construction was doing brick work on the Trinity Grace Church located at 231 Ainslie Street in Williamsburg. He was on scaffolding when he fell two stories onto the sidewalk shed. The accident occurred Monday afternoon around 2pm.  The emergency responders rescued the man and rushed him to the hospital. A neighbor told the NY Daily News that he previously called 311 because he was worried about the unsafe conditions at the construction site.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Picture of the accident location: courtesy of Google Map

 

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NY-bus-accident-locationTwo people suffered serious injury, 5 moderate injuries and dozens others minor injuries in a bus accident in Long Island, NY that occurred on Sunday night a little after 8:00 pm.

The bus driven by Troy Gaston from Bethlehem, PA belonged to Journey Bus Line in New Jersey. The driver had just picked up 38 students and 5 chaperons at JFK airport. The teenagers aged 16 to 19-year-old were coming back from an Eastern Europe trip organized by EF Educational Tours.  The bus was heading to a mall where parents were supposed to pick up their children. The driver took the Southern State Parkway to get to his destination, apparently not aware that the Parkway was forbidden to most commercial vehicles.

As he drove through the Eagle Avenue overpass in Lakeview, Nassau County, LI, the top of the bus was ripped off by the overpass injuring multiple passengers. According to the police someone shouted “duck” just before the bus hit the overpass. This may have helped keep the number of seriously injured students to just a few. Two 17-year-old girls suffered the most serious injuries. They are still hospitalized but in stable condition. They are expected to leave the hospital in the next 24 to 48 hours. The injuries ranged from broken bones to cuts and scrapes.

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accident sceneA young couple died and 5 other people suffered serious injury in a car accident involving 5 vehicles early Thursday morning in New York City.  So far the investigators are still trying to figure out what exactly caused the five-car chain reaction crash.

The accident occurred between 1:00 am and 2:00 am  on the Nassau Expressway in Inwood.  The massive collision left debris of car parts, oil and gasoline over 800 feet on the highway. According to the police one of the cars’engines went out of the vehicle.

The young couple was identified by the police as 21-year-old Yisroel Levin, of Brooklyn, and 20-year-old Elisheva Basya Kaplan, of Far Rockaway.  They got trapped in their car as it burst on fire. The two of them got engaged last week and were set to be married over the summer.

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Pollack-and-TruhauWhen an accuser or or an accused  in a criminal investigation is a pre-teen or an adolescent, the unpreparedness of law agencies can lead to miscarriages of justice resulting in traumatic impacts.  In a recent article in the New York Law Journal, LISA H. THURAU, an executive director of Strategies for Youth and DANIEL POLLACK a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work  recommend that law enforcement agencies provide training and guidance on how to better handle cases with youths. Too often in criminal cases, law enforcement officers are not proprely trained to interact with children. This can result in traumatic experiences for the children and their loved ones. Additionally when families try to sue for abuse, the court’s decision is often biased in favor of the defendants.

Download the article here

 

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Defective-sign-NYCA 6 year old boy was seriously injured by a falling New York Street sign yesterday afternoon. The young boy was a tourist visiting from Argentina. He was on the sidewalk at the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Seventh Ave when a heavy street sign detached from the pole and fell on him. The boy was unconscious and transported to the hospital. According to the NYPD he woke up and he is now in serious but stable condition.

The defective sign, a large blue street sign marking West 32nd Street outside the East entrance of Penn Station fell after large gust of winds of up to 40 mph were recorded in the area. It was taken away by the NYPD.

The wind was so strong yesterday in Manhattan that it took down banners and damaged scaffolding all around the city. In the Tri-State area many trees fell down and thousands lost power.

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location of the fatal pedestrian accident BK NYCThe investigation is still ongoing in the NYC car accident during which Dorothy Burns drove into a group of pedestrians and killed two young children on March 5th. According to a new article in the NY Daily News, a medical crew was dispatched to Burns’ apartment on March 2nd after receiving a call about a cardiac condition. It wasn’t the first time that emergency responders showed up at this address. Investigators found that they were previously called to the rescue for cardiac condition on December 22nd and November 19th.  The health of Dorothy Burns had deteriorated so much at the beginning of the year that she had to ask for a medical leave from her job in January. She didn’t return until February after she received a medical clearance. The investigators are now trying to find out if the doctors told Burns she had to stop driving because of her condition. The woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis had a seizure before crashing into a group of pedestrians who were crossing the road in Park Slope. Two young children died and three other people were injured in the accident (see previous blog

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New York Personal Injury Attorneys Rubinowitz and TorganIn their latest Trial Advocacy column in the New York Law Journal, NYC Personal Injury Attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Evan Torgan write: Concurrent or overlapping surgeries are becoming more common in major teaching hospitals. Although studies have suggested that the practice can be performed without endangering patient safety, the attorney prosecuting such a case should focus on the motives behind the practice. Developing “case frames” such as profit over safety will certainly answer questions in the minds of jurors as to who benefits from double booking.