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 wrongful death

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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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A pedestrian died after being hit by a school bus Friday evening in Brooklyn, NYC.  The bus accident happened on Atlantic Avenue near Schenectady Avenue in Crown Heights. The bus driver was driving East on Atlantic Ave when he swerved to avoid another car. He jumped the curb and fatally hit a 50 year old woman. During the accident the bus also hit two light poles, a gas station and multiple parked cars. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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A truck fatally  struck a bicyclist in Brooklyn, NYC. The truck accident happened yesterday at 5 pm in Sheepshead Bay. 54 year old Reng Can Ma was riding his bicycle westbound on Avenue U near Ninth Street.  A truck driver who was riding in the same direction passed him to closely and hit him. The truck driver didn’t stop. Witnesses believe his truck was so big that he may have not realized that he hit the bicyclist. The police are still looking for him. They have released a surveillance video showing the truck passing the cyclist seconds before the accident. The truck was a large Ryder truck with Indiana license plates. Several people who witnessed the accident ran over to the victim and tried to help him but there was little they could do. The man was lying in the middle of the street and wasn’t moving. According to a witness he was bleeding from the head and he was confused. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Read more and see video on ABC7 NY.

Avenue U is Brooklyn’s second Chinatown. It’s a neighborhood that has been developing fast recently. More and more Chinese food markets, bakeries nail salons and electronic stores are opening between Coney Island Ave and Ocean Ave. The traffic has increased as well and numerous complaints have been reported on the Vision Zero map by concerned residents. The Vision Zero map that was used to define the City’s Vision Zero borough safety action plans shows that Sheepshead Bay residents were worried about the safety of Avenue U. Most of the complaints are related to double parking. Residents reported that there were constantly cars double parked on both side of the Avenue.  Jay walking was also reported on several spots. Additionally complaints of running red lights, failure to yield to pedestrians and illegal U-turns were also reported by some residents.

Avenue U

 

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A pedestrian died in a car accident in Brooklyn, NYC last Thursday. The driver was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care and issued a desk appearance ticket.  The victim is a 77 yearl old woman. She was crossing the road at E. 21st Street and Gravensend Neck Road in Sheepshead Bay when a van making a left turn hit her. The driver 23 year old Zafrom Ghafoor was driving South on E. 21st Street. He drove thru a stop sign before making the left turn. If he had stopped he would probably have seen the elderly woman and the accident could have been avoided.

Earlier during the day, a 67 year old female pedestrian was severely injured after being hit by a car in Queens, NYC.  The accident happened at the intersection of 39th Street and Queens Blvd in Sunnyside, Queens, NYC. The driver was making a left turn when he hit the victim. He said he didn’t even see the victim. The woman was severely injured and her leg was partially amputated at the right ankle according to the FDNY.

That same day a 31 year old bicyclist crashed into a 65 year old pedestrian in Brooklyn, NYC. The pedestrian was crossing 60th street at Eighth Ave in Sunset Park when the bicyclist plowed into him. Both of them were injured and taken to the hospital. The pedestrian who suffered head trauma was in critical condition. The bicyclist only suffered minor injury.

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MTAAfter a pedestrian died in a New York City bus accident, officials announced that the driver was arrested under the city’s Right of Way Law. The fatal bus accident happened a week ago in Brooklyn, NYC.

62 year old Eleanora Shulkina was crossing East 17th Street near Avenue Z. The woman was in the crosswalk when she was hit by a MTA bus making a left turn on Avenue Z. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. She didn’t survive her injuries and died shortly after.

The bus driver, 52 year old Wayne Alman, stayed at the scene of the accident. He wasn’t immediately charged. However yesterday officials announced that they had arrested the bus driver. He is charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, a misdemeanor under the newly signed Right of Way Law.

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NicodemusOne pedestrian died and two others where injured yesterday night in Brooklyn, NYC, after an unlicensed driver lost control of his vehicle and jumped the curb. Yesterday around 5:30 pm, 30 year old Victoria Nicodemus was walking with her boyfriend on a sidewalk of Fulton Street near South Portland Street in Fort Green when a SUV jumped the curb and hit the two of them as well as a 75 year old female pedestrian. Victoria died and the two others suffered personal injury.

Marlon Sewell, the driver, didn’t realize that there was a bus stop nearby and that the bus in front of him was about to stop. He swerved to avoid it and jumped the curb killing one and injuring two. He was arrested by the police and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and  operating a motor vehicle without insurance. Read more in the Gothamist

Later on, disturbing footage of a surveillance video was released showing a woman that happened to be steps away from the crash looking at the victim and then continuing to walk down the street eating her pizza, unfazed after the crash.

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Another pedestrian died in a car accident in NYC on Monday night. Paul Omoregie, an unlicensed driver who was trying to stop another car from passing him lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a bus stop stand and a tree before fatally striking 50 year old Charles Kinyeti who was walking back home from work on Flatbush Ave near Abermarie Rd. in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The driver and 3 year old child who was sitting in the back of the car as well as another female pedestrian suffered minor injuries and were hospitalized.

The police arrested the man yesterday for driving without a license. Read more in the NY Daily News.

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An elderly pedestrian died in a bus accident in New York City. The 70 year old woman was crossing the street at the intersection of Sackman Street and Fulton Street around 6:15 am yeserday morning when she was struck by a MTA bus turning from Sackman Street onto Fulton Street.  The bus kept going and the victim was left on the road “cut in half” according to Ramon Garcia, a witness who tried to help her. She died at the scene of the accident.  The witness said the bus driver stopped briefly at the stop sign before making the turn and hit the woman who was using a walker.

Though the driver left the scene and may have violated the Right of Way Law, police “did not immediately suspect criminality.” The Right of Way Law makes it a misdemeanor for a driver to injure or kill someone who is walking or biking with the right of way. Read more in Street Blog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI28pp1NSVs

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A fire in an apartment building in New York City injured 3 people and left one dead. The fire erupted around 9:45 pm yesterday night  in a a 3-story building on Hancock Street near Bedford Ave in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. a 56 year old man was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries. 3 other people were also taken to the hospital. All 3 suffered from smoke inhalation and were treated and released. The FDNY are investigating the cause of the fire. Read more in the NY Daily News

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A 37 year old man died in an elevator accident at the Espoir Building (see picture) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn early this morning. The victim was in the elevator with 14 people. A video depicts the elevator stopping well above the lobby floor. The door opened and the man, identified as Eran Modan was attempting to climb out when the elevator suddenly fell, trapping his upper body between the floor and the top of the cab. His roommate was then able to escape the elevator through a hatch in the bottom. She tried to resuscitate him but the man died in the lobby shortly after EMS arrived.

The building has a history of elevator problems according to the roommate. The Espoir apartment complex received four elevator violations since 2013.

Read more in the NY Daily News