NYC Revokes License Of Operator In Deadly 2016 Crane Collapse

TRIBECA, NY — The crane operator who was manning a massive construction crane in Tribeca before its deadly collapse in 2016 has had his license permanently revoked, city officials announced Wednesday.

Rick Chandler, the city's building's commissioner, revoked crane operator Kevin Reilly's license and slapped him with $52,000 in fines for his role in the fatal accident, Chandler said.

"Public safety requires that we hold crane operators to the highest standards, " Chandler said in a statement. "We conducted a painstaking investigation of the Tribeca collapse, both to hold accountable those responsible and to learn from this tragedy to improve crane safety."

Reilly was manning the towering crane in February 2016 when it collapsed onto Worth Street in Tribeca, killing a 38-year-old man and injuring three other people. The city's Department of Buildings suspended Reilly's license in December 2016 before filing a case to permanently revoke it.

Last month, an administrative law judge sided with the Buildings Department, agreeing that Reilly bore the bulk of the blame for the deadly collapse. The judge called Reilly's actions "negligent," concluding after a 10-day trial that Reilly had failed to properly secure the apparatus and recommending that his license be revoked.

Patch was not immediately able to contact Reilly's attorney Stacey Richman on Thursday. Richman told the New York Daily News, which was first to report the story, that her client had yet to be informed that his license was suspended and that the commissioner's decision was "arbitrary and capricious." Richman said she would appeal the decision.

Image credit: Courtesy of FDNY