Falling debris from scaffold kills hardhat

A PIECE of metal fell off construction scaffolding that had been repeatedly cited for code violations and plummeted 10 stories Monday morning, fatally striking a worker, officials said.

Przemyskaw Krawczyk, 34, was standing on a sidewalk shed at the 61 Ninth Ave. construction site in Chelsea when an anchoring bracket hit him in the head. The site had been visited again and again by buildings inspectors since last summer and hit with multiple code violations, many of which stemmed from scaffolding issues, records show. “This tragedy appears to have been completely preventable and we are taking enforcement actions against all parties involved,” said Buildings Department spokesman Joseph Soldevere. The department shut down the site and expects to issue violations.

At Krawczyk’s Ozone Park, Queens, home, his wife, who declined to give her name, said, “I cannot speak about this right now. I have children, thank you.”

Police officers arrived at the scene at 8:40 a.m. and found Krawczyk sprawled on the ground, officials said. He suffered severe head trauma and was unresponsive. Medics rushed him to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he died an hour later.