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 Wrongful Death

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1 worker died and 158 others were injured on construction sites in New York City during the first quarter of 2020  compared to respectively 0 and 137 for the same period of 2019.  When looking at a 5 year period, the first trimester of 2018  was the worst for New York City construction workers with  170 of them sustaining injuries and 3 of them dying in accidents.

Most accidents resulting in injuries occurred in Manhattan  with 96 workers injured, followed by Brooklyn, 35, Queens, 14 and the Bronx, 13. No injuries were reported in Staten Island during the first trimester. With the exception of Staten Island all other boroughs recorded an increase in construction accident injuries during the the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier.

NYC Construction Accident Injuries 2020 Q1
Working on construction sites is one of the most dangerous activities in New York and in the US.  The Department of Buildings classify injuries in 6 different categories. The largest category is “Other”. Injuries in this category are usually not life threatening or not critical. Many of them are small cuts and lacerations that do not require ambulance transportation or hospitalization. Most of the time a visit to an emergency call center is sufficient to treat the injury. It is also rare that a safety violation is issued after these types of injuries.  The second largest category of NYC construction accident injuries are  injuries related to falls. Falls often result in serious injuries. An ambulance is often called and workers end up most of the time at the hospital after a fall. Most fall injuries could be prevented if workers were fully protected. During the first quarter of 2020, 45 hart hats were injured in falls in New York. This is the highest number of fall injuries recorded during the first quarter over the last 5 years. Another very common cause of injuries is when material fell onto workers. 12 workers were injured in that manner during the first three months of the year compared to  respectively 22, 21, 23 and 10 during the same period of 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. 6 people were also injured in scaffolds accidents and 2 sustained injuries related to mechanical construction equipment.

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location of the deadly Mercedes crashSpeeding cars caused 3 fatal car accidents in New York City this weekend.  A speeding driver lost control of his vehicle in the Bronx and killed himself and his passenger. A thief who stole a car ran a red light in Staten Island and crashed into another car killing one of the occupants and seriously injuring the other. Drag racing cars killed a NYPD cop on his bike (see previous blog).

Speeding Mercedes Driver crashes into a pillar on Bruckner Boulevard

32 year old Gasper Vallejo who was visiting New York from Miami was speeding on Brucker Boulveard in his 2016 Mercedez Benz around 3.35 am on Sunday. 2 other passengers were in the car: a 22 year old woman and a 25 year old woman.   As the car was speeding on Bruckner Boulevard by the elevated Bruckener Expressway, Vallejo lost control of his vehicle and hit a pillar.  The impact was so intense that the car broke apart and all 3 passengers were ejected from the vehicle onto the pavement. Vallejo died at the scene of the accident. Both passengers were still alive when the EMS arrived. They were rushed to the hospital. The 22 year old died at the hospital and the 25 year old is in critical condition. (read more in the Daily News)

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accident sceneA NYPD cop died in a motorcycle accident in New York City on Sunday. 34 year old Richard Holt was riding his Harley-Davidson on the Cross Island Parkway in Queens when a BMW drag racing with another car clipped the rear end of his bike.  He was rushed to the hospital but he didn’t survive his injuries. The driver of the BMW stayed at the scene of the accident. The other driver who was racing with him fled the scene of the accident. It is not clear if the driver who hit the motorcyclist will be charged or not.

Holt who was previously working in the security department of the NASA in Florida came back to New York to take care of his father. He joined the NYPD and was part of the homeless outreach team. He had been recently re-assigned to a Covid-19 response unit.  He was on his way to work when the accident occured.

Holt was also an avid biker and he was the founder and president of the Unwanted LEM Motorcycle Club whose members are mostly law enforcement employees.  Before creating his own club, Holt became a member the NYC Punishers LEMC  around 4 years ago.

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speeding problems in NYCA 21 year old man was killed in a car crash in New York City after a 20 year old unlicensed driver blew a stop sign and struck him. 20 year old Satesh Permaul was driving his car on 107th Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, when 21 year old Christopher Garcia sped through a stop sign at 109th Street and crashed into his car. The young men were both from the neighborhood and knew each other from school. Garcia didn’t have a drivers license. Shortly before the accident occurred he called his girlfriend to tell her he was looking for a parking space according to the Daily News. The girlfriend also told the News that Garcia was teaching her how to drive and explained to her how to wait 3 seconds at a stop sign before slowly crossing. Surveillance video show Garcia completely ignoring the stop sign and crashing into Permaul’s car at full speed. Permaul was transported to the hospital but he didn’t survive his injuries. The police took Garcia into custody and charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. (Read more in the NY Daily News )

Speeding is spiking in the City

With less traffic in the streets because of the pandemic, speeding has been spiking all over the city. In New York City, on March 27,  24,765 speed camera tickets were issued compared to 12,672 tickets daily a month earlier.  On Twitter NYC Councilman Justin Brannan said “Yep. Now that the streets are empty, the Fast & Furious wannabes really think they’re living in a video game. The sounds of cars and motorcycles racing on the Belt Parkway in #BayRidge have become a scary lullaby.”

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collision with injuries NYCA man died in a car accident in New York City yesterday. The driver who was speeding, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into two other cars, injuring both drivers before destroying a store front. Speeding continues to be reported all over the city and despite the drastic decrease in traffic the number of speed camera tickets even increase on some days according to a recent article by Gridlock Sam.  Our hospitals are overcrowded, our emergency workers are overwhelmed and NYC drivers should slow down!

The man who died yesterday was identified as 45 year old Khairul Chowdhury. He was driving his 2008 Silver Lexus Sedan on Jamaica Avenue, Queens, yesterday morning around 5:35 am when he hit a Toyota Camry driven by a 35 year old man. The crash occurred at the intersection of  Jamaica Avenue and Van Wyck Expressway Service Road. After he hit the Toyota, the car kept going crossing into the other side of the lane of Jamaica Avenue and striking a Toyota Odyssey driven by a 55 year old woman, before crashing into a storefront. Chowdhury who lived a mile away from the car accident was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. The two other drivers were also injured and were transported to the hospital to be treated. Read more in the NY Daily News

266 people injured in NYC car accidents last week

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Location of the Accident on Queens BlvdA pedestrian was killed by a hit and run driver in New York City yesterday morning. The 59 year old victim was crossing the notoriously dangerous Queens Boulevard at the intersection of 80th Road when she was struck by a beige Toyota Camry around 8:40 am yesterday morning. According to the NYPD, the driver stopped the car, stepped out of his vehicle and looked at the victim dying in the street before getting back in his car and speeding away.The woman was found by the EMS team in critical condition. She was rushed to the hospital but she didn’t survive her injuries (read more in the NY Daily News).

So many people died in car accidents on Queens Boulevard that Queens residents nicknamed it the Boulevard of Death

The  number of traffic fatalities on this dangerous boulevard is not as high as it used to be as many safety measures and redesigns were installed under the umbrella of the Vision Zero program launched by the de Blasio administration (see previous blog). However the plan to improve safety on Queens Boulevard was never fully completed. While the entire project was supposed to be finished in 2018, a stretch of the Boulevard between Yellowstone Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills was never redesigned after the community board voted down a plan to add crosswalks, a protected bike lane and other safety improvements because it was taking away too many parking spots. This segment was supposed to be finally completed this summer but the actual corona crisis will most probably lead to another delay.
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pregnant woman700 women die from medical complications related to child birth on average every year in the US. 60% of these fatalities are preventable. Maternal health was ranked the number two patient safety concern in the Top 10 Patient Safety Concern 2020 recently released by the ECRI Institute.
The CDC recently released alarming data related to the maternal mortality rate in the US. Non-Hispanic black women are 3 to 4 times more at risk of dying from child birth complications than non-Hispanic white women.  The rate of mortality also increases as women giving birth get older. Women who get pregnant after 40 year old are 7.7 times more at risk of dying from child birth complications than women under 25.

The lack of standardized care is a significant contribution factor in maternal mortality

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doctor-and-x-rayMissed and delayed diagnoses are common medical errors that can lead to serious injury and death. This morning the Daily Mail wrote about an 11 year old boy who died from severe bowel obstruction after a doctor misdiagnosed him with constipation and sent him back home. The doctor neglected to send him for an X-ray despite symptoms consistent with bowel obstruction.
Failure to diagnose or delay to diagnose a medical condition occur so often that the ECRI institute ranked this type of medical malpractice its number one concern out of its Top 10 Patients Safety Concern in 2020.

In the US it is estimated that 12 million adults or 1 out of 20 patients are misdiagnosed every year

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roofers are the most at risk of fallingTwo weeks ago a 45 year old construction worker  died after he fell from a roof in Troy, NY. The worker sustained serious injury and was pronounced dead upon his arrival to the hospital. (read more here)

Roofer is one of the most dangerous job in the US

Roofers are the construction workers that are the most at risk of dying in a fall accident.  According to previous statistics between  35 and 40 roofers out of 100,000 die every year in fall accidents. This is 10 times the rate of fatality of the construction industry globally. 75% of roofing fatalities are caused by falls.  Falls are often deadly but when they are not, injuries can be devastating and sometimes result in lifelong disabilities. Traumatic Brain injury is one of the most common injury sustain by roofers in fall accidents. Broken bone injuries can also occur depending on how the worker lands. Broken spine, broken neck, arms, and ribs are the most common as well as broken knees, ankles and feet.

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11 construction workers died and 586 were injured on the job in New York City last year according to statistics from the NYC Department of Buildings.  Half of the fatalities occurred in Manhattan, 2 in Brooklyn, 2 in Queens and one in the Bronx. No fatalities were reported in Staten Island.  12 construction workers died yearly during the 4 previous years. When looking at these numbers it is important to keep in mind that the NYC Department of Buildings has very narrow criteria to count construction fatalities in the city and an estimated one third of the construction deaths recorded by OSHA in New York City dot not appear in the DOT stats.

Construction accident fatalities NYC 2019
The number of workers injured in construction accidents in New York City last year declined compared to the 3 previous years but was higher than in 2015. 586 construction workers sustained injuries on construction sites in the city last year compared to 761 in 2018, 666 in 2017, 599 in 2016 and 472 in 2015 according to the DOT statistics. Most accidents occurred on Manhattan construction sites followed by Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. The monthly number of hard hats injured on the job reached a peak in August at 62 and were above 50 during the warm season in May, June, July and September. During all other months of 2019 the number of injuries recorded on NYC construction sites in 2019 was below 50. This is quite an improvement compared to the year before during which injuries almost reached 100 in May and were above 50 every month except for November and December.

onstruction accident injuries in 2019 in New York
Manhattan Construction accident deaths and injuries are still on a rising trend despite a decline in both deaths and injuries last year.  4 construction workers died in Manhattan during the 3 month period of April, May and June and 2 others in October. July and August had the highest number of injuries with 38 workers injured in July and 34 in August.

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