Immigrant worker falls to death at
Brooklyn Heights construction site
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
A construction worker died
after falling several stories at a
worksite in Brooklyn Heights
on Friday morning.
Police and emergency personnel
responded to the call at
10:21 am, and found the man,
later identifi ed as Angel Pilataxi,
lying unconscious on a
second-fl oor terrace, according
to theNew York City Police Department.
A notice fi led with the city’s
Department of Buildings said
that he had fallen from the
roof of the ten-story building,
though witnesses reported he
had fallen from the eighth fl oor.
A construction worker onsite
at the time said the man
had not been wearing a harness
at the time of the fall.
Billionaire fi nancial entrepreneur
Vincent Viola
purchased the landmarked
property, a former Jehovah’s
Witness dormitory, for more
than $100 million in 2016. Renovated
as a luxury apartment
building called The Torre
House, the building is set to
open to tenants this spring.
The property has several
active construction permits
for work ranging from plumbing
and electrical to the installation
COURIER LIFE, F 16 EBRUARY 18-24, 2022
of a temporary elevator.
Since July 2020, 17 complaints
about worker safety at the site
have been fi led with DOB and
the city’s Offi ce of Administrative
Trials and Hearings.
Three were dismissed.
In November, construction
company KBENY LLC was ordered
to pay $10,000 for “failure
to safeguard all persons and
property affected by construction
operations.” It was the
second fi ne $10,000 fi ne issued
for failure to maintain safety
measures in six months. Other
complaints alleged that there
were not suffi cient guardrails
at the multiple-story site, and
that vertical safety nets had not
been installed. A stop work order
was issued last April after
multiple safety violations were
reported, including failure to
alert DOB of an injury on-site.
“My heart goes out to the
loved ones of the deceased,”
said local councilmember Lincoln
Restler. “Like this tragedy,
these avoidable deaths often
include Latino workers at
non-union construction sites.
Our offi ce will work to insure
there is a rigorous investigation
into what led to this death.
If there was negligence, we will
demand accountability.”
After the incident, Restler,
along with the Worker Justice
Project, launched a GoFundMe
on Feb. 15, with a goal of raising
$20,000 to support Pilataxi’s
family.
“Their family is without
their primary breadwinner
and their loving father,” reads
the fundraising page. “Please
give what you can to help Angel’s
family cover funeral expenses
and stabilize after this
unexpected loss.”
“My heart goes out to the
loved ones of the deceased,”
Restler said after Pilataxi’s
death. “Like this tragedy, these
avoidable deaths often include
Latino workers at non-union
construction sites. Our offi ce
will work to ensure there is
a rigorous investigation into
what led to this death. If there
was negligence, we will demand
accountability.”
The Worker Justice Project
is a nonprofi t organization that
helps fi ght for better working
place conditions for low-wage
workers, many of whom are
immigrants like Pilataxi.
Within hours of launching,
the GoFundMe had raised
nearly $1,000, and saw an outpouring
of support from over a
dozen donors.
According to the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention,
falls from high places
is the most common cause of
death among active construction
workers, and accounted
for 401 of the 991 construction
fatalities recorded in 2019,
when the most recent data is
available.
A construction worker fell to his death at a Brooklyn Heights Construction
site on Feb. 11. Google Maps
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