Construction work is hard work, and it’s important work. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Every day carries risks, risks from heavy equipment, from falling construction material and even from collapsing structures. When these risks come to pass, construction injuries happen. Take a recent construction accident in Manhattan.
Workers were demolishing a parking garage on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. Workers were inside the building digging when some of the structure collapsed. According to workers, the collapse sounded like a bomb and felt like an earthquake.
The collapse hurt a worker who was on the third floor. The collapse pancaked the floors beneath the worker, sending him surfing down three stories. Following the movie-style ride, the man was able to walk out of the building. He was, as a fire chief put it, very lucky.
But many New York construction workers are not nearly so lucky. When a building collapses, often it leads to serious injuries or even death.
In these cases, New Yorkers (or their families in case of death) have legal options. One is to file a personal injury lawsuit. If successful, a lawsuit can lead to compensation that New Yorkers need and deserve as they try to move past a difficult time. Compensation can include damages for lost future wages, medical bills, pain and suffering and more.
New Yorkers considering legal action may benefit from discussing their case with an experienced construction injury attorney, someone who knows about gathering evidence and presenting a strong case. That discussion could be the first step toward putting a tragic situation where it belongs: in the past.
Source: CBS New York, “Parking Garage Under Demolition Partially Collapses On Manhattan’s Far West Side,” Feb. 25, 2014