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 Tagged with Brooklyn personal injury

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KingsbrookA hard hat worker suffered critical injury in a NYC construction accident yesterday. A construction truck hit a suspended cable line causing a pole to fall, knocking down the construction worker into a 15 foot trench. The accident happened at the corner of East 49th Street and Rutland Road in Brownsville, next to the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

When Brian Yokers, one the ER doctors at the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, heard about a worker in cardiac arrest at the construction site next to the hospital he ran out to the construction site and followed the crowd to the trench. The worker was still breathing when he arrived. He stepped down the ladder into the trench to help the worker.  He held his head stable to prevent a spinal cord injury until the FDNY arrived with a neck brace. The worker was then placed on a backboard and hoisted out of the trench. He was then transported to the Kings County Hospital.

Kudos to Brian Yokers!

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NYC fire12 people were injured in a fire in New York City Tuesday night. 4 of the victims were transported to the hospital. One of them suffered serious injuries. The other victims were treated on location for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries.

According to the NY Daily News, the fire started on a building rooftop around 10:00 pm on Dekalb Ave between Knickerbocker Ave and Wilson Ave and spread to four other rooftops. Families who lived in the building were able to escape the building  with the help of two early responding police officers. The firefighters who arrived shortly after searched every floor for potential victims.  A resident told the NY Daily News that his smoke alarm never went off and that the screams from other building residents alerted him to get out.

According to the FDNY commissioner, Daniel Nigro, an extension built behind one of the buildings partially collapsed and triggered the fire to quickly spread to the other buildings. By midnight one of the building’s front facades had collapsed. Several apartments were damaged during the fire leaving 90 people homeless.

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Fire escapeA 23 year old man suffered critical injury after he stepped on a defective fire escape and fell 4 stories to the ground. 23 year old Chad Miller was about to move to a new apartment on Bedford Ave near Lefferts Boulevard in Brooklyn, NYC. He was hanging out with a friend on the fire escape outside his new place when the railing broke. Chad fell 4 stories and was critically injured. According to his dad, his son is still in a coma.

The owner of the building  received a violation for failure to maintain the fire escape. It could cost him up to a $5000 penalty. There is also a good chance that the family of the victim files a premises liability lawsuit against him. In 2011 we settled a case for $5,000,000.00 when a fire escape landing on which a man was standing on collapsed causing him to fall approximately 30 feet to the ground. Discussion of case here.

Read more in the NY Daily News and here 

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A pedestrian suffered serious injury after being hit by a car in New York City but according to a witness, the driver was let go by the police after he flashed a badge.

On January 11th, 63 year old  Cindy Klump who managed the drawing Center at Pratt Institute, was trying to cross Myrtle Ave at Ryerson Street in Brooklyn, NYC.  As she was crossing, she tripped and fell on the ground. She was getting back when up she was hit in the back by a a light colored minivan.  John Cisneros, a Pratt student who witnessed the accident saw the van driver parking his vehicle 50 feet away and run to rescue the woman. Another woman who also witnessed the accident ran to the rescue. She had medical training and tended to Klump while Cisneros called 911.

The ambulance and the police showed up shortly after. One of the police officers, Officer Orlando Vargas, started to interview the woman who helped Klump. She pointed at the driver who was still around and pointed at his car and told the officer: “that’s the guy who hit her and that’s his car”. The driver denied it and said it was a car before him who struck the woman and ran away. Cisneros said he saw the driver flashing a badge to Officer Vargas. He then kept the badge on a chain around his neck and was let go by Officer Vargas.

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A 14 year old boy suffered personal injury in a NYC car crash last Saturday. 14 year old Luiz Cruz stole a car with another teenager and went for a joy ride in Coney Island. The police spotted the car speeding on Surf Ave near West 23rd Street and began to chase them. The police tried to pull them over before the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a cement median and several parked cars. The driver fled the scene of the accident leaving his friend injured on the passenger seat. The police are still looking for the driver.

Read more in the NY daily News

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location of the hit and run accidentA 70 year old man was critically injured by a speeding hit an run driver yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn, NYC. The man who was riding his electric scooter  was in the crosswalk at the intersection of 25th Avenue and 85th Street when he was side-swiped by a speeding white SUV.  The impact knocked the elderly man off of his scooter.  Jennifer Fahmy, a teenaged pedestrian was standing nearby and witnessed the accident. She told NBC News that the driver almost hit her as well. As he was fleeing witnesses said he ran several red lights.

Jennifer immediately ran to the victim to assist him. She said that he was critically injured and was barely moving. She called 911.

The elderly man was rushed to the hospital in life threatening condition.

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After a construction worker died and four others suffered personal injury in a construction accident in Brooklyn, NYC, in 2011, the negligent “special instructor” who failed to perform crucial safety inspections on the site of the accident had his license revoked by the New York City Department of Buildings on Friday.

Back in 2011, Steven Schneider, an engineer, was hired as a special safety inspector on the construction site of a 14-unit condo building in Brighton Beach. As part of his duties Schneider was required by the code to perform structural tests such as testing of steel and masonry construction, structural stability and underpinning of adjacent buildings. Investigations show that Schneider never performed any of these tests and therefore didn’t notice that construction workers  had improperly poured concrete on unstable steel structures. This gross negligence led to the collapse of several floors of the building.  During the accident several workers were buried in the debris. Among them was Ivan Lende, a 54 year old worker from the Ukraine who died in the accident. Four of his colleagues were injured. Investigation results also show that Schneider  was unable to provide inspection documentation at many other NYC sites where he had been hired as a safety instructor. Not only did Schneider have his license revoked by the NYC DOB but his case was also referred to the state for “further disciplinary action”.

The DOB also announced Friday the revocation of the plumbing license of Andrew Trombetta. Andrew Trombetta is a master plumber who was involved in the East Village gas explosion that killed two people and injured many others in March 2015. Andrew Trobetta rented his licensed to the unaccredited plumber who installed the illegal hook up that led to the explosion. Earlier this month he was charged with falsifying inspection reports while four other people were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

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United_States_Postal_Service_TruckA woman was killed in a truck accident in Brooklyn, NYC, early this morning. For some mysterious reason, 52 year old Dorria Campfield from the Bronx was lying face down in the middle of Fulton Ave near Roackaway Ave at 5:00 am this morning when a US postal truck ran over her. The driver said it din’t realized it was a person. He thought it was a bump.  After he realized what happened, the 66 year old driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charge.

Recently our personal injury law firm obtained a $4.6 million verdict for the family of a woman who was killed by a postal truck while she was riding her bike. (see previous blog)

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A woman suffered critical personal injury after being hit by a car in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC early Saturday. The woman who was in her thirties was hailing a cab near Rodney Street and Metropolitan Avenue when she was hit by silver BMW. The driver sped off in the night leaving the woman agonizing in the street. The woman was transported to the hospital. She suffered serious head trauma and was listed in critical condition. The police are still looking for the driver and have released the below surveillance image of the car.

hit and run car

Read more in the Gothamist

 

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School bus accident4 children and 3 adults were injured in an accident involving a school bus and a passenger car. The accident happened at the dangerous intersection of First Street and Fourth Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NYC last Friday around 3pm. The school bus was traveling northbound on Fourth Ave and was trying to make a left turn onto First Street when a Mustang struck it. The impact was so strong that the bus flipped on its side. The passengers, 4 children and 2 adults as well as the driver of the mustang were all transported to the hospital.

Located one block away from a school, the intersection of First Street and Fourth Ave is both dangerous for drivers and for pedestrians. On the Vision Zero map two people complained about poor visibility at this intersection.  One of them expressed concern about the fact that many school buses were turning left onto First Street from Fourth Ave with almost no visibility. The other one called the intersection chaotic. Double parking as well as a nearby car wash are also  adding to the chaos according to the comments.

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