ConDig (11-May-17). The owner of a Brooklyn-based construction company has been charged with manslaughter after one worker died and two were seriously injured when a wall collapsed at an excavation site.
Michael Weiss, 47, of Williamsburg, is owner of RSBY NY Builders Inc and Park Ave Builders Inc, both based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count, acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
The charges related to an incident on September 3 2015 when employees of Weiss and his companies were working at a construction site at 656 Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where they were replacing a one-story building with a five-story building.
Weiss ordered several of his employees to excavate in the rear of the lot in an area not permitted by the approved Department of Buildings (DOB) plans and without knowledge of other professionals involved in the project.
It is alleged, despite repeated requests from his workers in the months, and even just hours before the collapse, Weiss refused to provide any material for shoring or underpinning of the excavation and adjacent exposed walls – despite The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations requiring him to do so – and refused to listen to the safety concerns of his workers, insisting they continue working in an unsafe area.
Later that morning the wall of the adjacent building collapsed, and masonry blocks and other debris fell on three of the workers, killing 18-year old Fernando Vanegaz and seriously injuring two others.
“Fernando Vanegaz should be alive today. Construction site deaths such as his are becoming all too common as builders ignore safety protocols and hire untrained workers to maximize profits,” said Gonzalez.
“Even worse, we allege, is that in this case the builder went ahead with this illicit excavation even after the Department of Buildings explicitly prohibited it. I vow to continue investigating and prosecuting these unscrupulous builders whose practices endanger their workers and anyone near their sites.”
An indicted co-conspirator was the owner of a construction company that had a safety registration with the DOB, with endorsements in concrete, construction and demolition, allowing his company to obtain permits to perform construction work in New York City.
It is alleged that since Weiss did not have the appropriate licenses with DOB to apply for the necessary permits to perform the work he paid the co-defendant $10,000 to sign the work permit applications and insurance certificates as general contractor, according to the indictment.
There have been 33 construction worker fatalities in New York City over past two years.
Last month, the City Council approved a sweeping new construction safety bill that will require the contractors to publish a full list of deaths and injuries on sites.
Under the bill, contractors will have now have to report details including the type of injury occurred on site, how long the worker has been on the job and whether they were unionized. Companies that fail to report deaths could be hit with fines up to $25,000.
A total of six bills in the package were approved, including a new law that requires buildings under construction that are more than four stories in height retain a construction superintendent. They must also have a safety plan for that particular project, with the plan made available to all workers on site.