Family Of UES Doorman Who Died While Shoveling Snow Sues Building

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The family of an Upper East Side doorman who died after falling through a glass pane while shoveling snow in 2017 is suing the building where he worked for wrongful death, according to a lawsuit filed last month in Manhattan federal court.

Miguel Gonzalez would not have died on Feb. 9, 2017 if the glass door he fell through was made using safety glass — which does not shatter into sharp pieces — the family's lawsuit claims. Lissette Colon, Gonzalez's niece and the fiduciary of his estate, filed the lawsuit.

The fact that the building's door was made using pane glass, which does create sharp shards upon breaking, displays "negligence, carelessness and recklessness" on the behalf of MSMC Residential Realty LLC, the company that owns the East 93rd Street building where Gonzalez was employed as a doorman.

The lawsuit claims that building owners had "actual and constructive notice" that the glass used for the door was unsafe and that Gonzalez's death was not the result of his own negligence.

Damages cited in the lawsuit include Gonzalez's medical care, funeral costs and the loss of future wages as a result of his work.

Gonzalez was shoveling in front of 333 E. 93rd St., between First and Second avenues, around 9:30 a.m., NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said in a 2017 press conference.

"He's shoveling the snow, he slips and falls through the glass window, and he expired," Monahan said.

Gonzalez was still alive when he was transported to Metropolitan Hospital, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

"Very very sad situation, and we don't obviously have all the details but it's another reminder people be very careful while shoveling," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in 2017.