District Attorney Cyrus Vance Goes After Contractors for Injured Workers

By Dakota O’Brien

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance held a press conference on Thursday morning to announce criminal charges against two contractors for their role in a June 2018 incident in which a mini crane fell several stories from a luxury residential construction site in Harlem, severely injuring two ironworkers.

Vance was accompanied by New York City’s Department of Buildings commissioner, Rick Chandler, as well as officials from the city’s Department of Investigation, the state Port Authority, the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The contractors, Terrence Edwards, 39, and Timothy Braico, 41, were each charged with two counts of assault in the second degree, a class D felony, and two counts of reckless endangerment in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor.

One ironworker, Christopher Jackson, was flung three stories down after being hit by the crane, resulting in severe brain trauma affecting his ability to talk or walk. Jorje Delgado, another ironworker, was struck in the back as the crane fell, which caused him to suffer from spinal injuries, affecting his ability to walk.

“As alleged in this case, these defendants knowingly skirted DOB (city Department of Buildings) safety protocols to speed up their project, resulting in devastating, life-changing injuries for two workers when a mini crane fell from the fourth floor, catapulting one as it hurtled to the ground,” Vance said.

The mini crane was not properly tethered and Edwards, Braico, and the workers involved never had proper training or certification to use the crane. Both the project’s expeditor and the contractor’s union representative warned them that they must attain a proper permit, yet such warnings were allegedly ignored. Further, the mini crane, which was only equipped to carry up to 880 pounds, was carrying a 1,500-pound glass panel, prosecutors say.

In recent years, mini cranes have become more popular among construction companies because they are easier to move and less costly. Because of this, the Commissioner of the Department of Buildings imposed strict regulations on the use of mini cranes. These regulations require crane operators to be trained for the specific crane model they are using and that contract workers submit plans drawn by a licensed engineer including details regarding how the crane will be used and tethered.

Western Specialty Contractors, the company that employed the injured workers, was not accused of a crime, but the company entered a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, as a result of their full cooperation with the investigation. The company will be charged if it violates any of the terms of the agreement. The office of the District Attorney believes this agreement will make workplaces safer, as it requires the company to fund public service announcements that will educate workers on their right to a safe workplace.

The District Attorney issued a call for legislators to pass new laws that will increase maximum fines for companies that violate safety codes resulting in the death or injury of a worker. The current maximum fine is $10,000, which the District Attorney said he believes is not high enough to deter big contractors from violating the law. He proposed that the fines be raised to a million dollars.

“We need to prevent these accidents with the deterrent effect of the law, not just prosecute them tragically after the fact,” District Attorney Vance said.