Dive Brief:
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Once notorious for street crime, New York City has put a new scare into pedestrians: falling construction equipment.
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Eight passersby and two construction workers suffered minor injuries on Sunday when a crane lifting a 4-ton air conditioning unit to the top of a Madison Avenue office building dropped its load 28 stories to the street below. The incident put the spotlight on a growing problem in the city, where the number of construction accidents last year totaled 231, up 24% from the year before, according to The New York Times. In addition, eight New Yorkers have died in construction accidents since January of this year.
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New York newspaper amNY quoted a number of New Yorkers saying they are “nervous” about walking near a construction site. One said he believes he is more likely to be hit by construction debris than to be the victim of a violent crime.
Dive Insight:
Richard Anderson, the president of the New York Building Congress, told The Times that the increase in construction has led to the spike in accidents. “The more jobs we have, it either means fewer workers doing more work, or more new workers who may not have as much experience or training,” Anderson said.
Building in the city isn’t likely to slow down any time soon. Anderson pointed to a record $36 billion in construction spending last year and a 25% increase in building permits since 2010. Plus, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for more construction of affordable housing in the city.
