The city’s Department of Buildings has issued a full-stop work order for what’s anticipated to be the second tallest skyscraper in the country, after two workers were injured, one fatally, by a falling glass panel at the building’s construction site in midtown Saturday morning, authorities said.
A preliminary investigation by DOB inspectors has found that the roughly 8-by-14-feet panel was awaiting installation in a loading dock when it tipped over and fell onto a security worker on the site at 217 W. 57th St., according to the agency.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene of the accident around 10:30 a.m., police said. There, they found a 67-year-old male security worker, unconscious and unresponsive with severe body trauma, and a 27-year-old construction worker. According to multiple reports, the younger man suffered non-life-threatening injuries when he came to the aid of the older one.
Police identified the security worker as Harry Ramnauth, of the Bronx.
Both men were transported to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in Morningside Heights, authorities said. Ramnauth was pronounced dead at the hospital.
In addition to a full-stop work order, the DOB has issued a violation to the property owners of the construction site for failing to safeguard it, the agency said. Owners are building a 99-story, mixed-use structure at 217 W. 57th, which is expected to be the second tallest skyscraper in the country — at its full 1,550-foot-tall height — when it’s completed in 2020.
The Central Park Tower, as developers Extell Development Company and the Shanghai Municipal Investment Group have called it, will become home to a Nordstrom flagship store at its base, with 179 luxury condos and 50,000 square feet of amenities, according to Curbed.com.
The Department of Building’s investigation into the incident is ongoing, and the DOB may take other enforcement actions, the agency said.
Extell did not immediately respond to request for comment about the security of the construction site.
