Local Leader Says Construction Workers 'Flying Out Of The Sky'

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — After a spate of construction worker deaths on the job in New York City due to a lack of safety regulations, the City Council committee on housing and buildings met for a hearing on The Construction Worker Safety Act, a package of 21 bills to improve those regulations. The meeting was led by Jumaane Williams, the chair of the committee who has been pushing to strengthen worker safety across the five boroughs.

Council Member Rafael Espinal, who represents parts of East New York and is on the housing committee, expressed support for the 21 bills. "Four hundred sixty-four construction worker deaths in 10 years is unacceptable," Espinal said. "Workers have been falling out of the sky at alarming rates and it is time we do something about it. That is why I stand firmly with implementing new safety measures to ensure all workers who build our city have good wages, and above all, are able to make it home safely to their families."

Mayor Bill de Blasio formed a committee group last year after a crane collapse killed a pedestrian in Tribeca in February 2016. Construction worker accidents have been on the rise the past few years. There were 433 accidents in 2015, nearly twice as many as in 2014 (231), according to Department of Buildings records. There were 91 percent more injuries in 2015 than in 2014, the records show.

Details of the bills can be read at Curbed.

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