Charges in debris death
Slam owners of building where falling brick killed architect
The city has brought criminal charges against the owners of the building where falling debris killed a prominent Manhattan architect in 2019.
Erica Tishman, 60, was killed on the morning of Dec. 17, 2019, when she was hit by a piece of the crumbling façade at 729 Seventh Ave. as she walked down the block near W. 49th St.
The owners of the 17-story office building were slapped with violations of the city’s administrative code Thursday for their role in the tragic incident, the Department of Buildings announced. The company that owned the building, 729 Acquisition LLC, was charged with failing to maintain all parts of the structure in a safe condition and for neglecting to fix the damaged façade.
“Owning a building in our city comes with a straightforward legal responsibility to keep the property in a safe condition and make repairs when needed,” said Melanie La Rocca, the commissioner of the Department of Buildings. “Ignoring this responsibility is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Landlords should know that delaying required building maintenance will lead to consequences.”
The criminal case is brought by the city, not prosecutors, and is filed against the company, not specific individuals.
The charges came a week after the two-year anniversary of Tishman’s death. She and her husband, Steven Tishman, the head of mergers and acquisitions at the Houlihan Lokey firm, were prominent supporters of the Education Alliance, a Lower East
Side-based community outreach group.
The building had numerous outstanding violations when the deadly incident occurred, including an open violation from April 2019 for “failure to maintain building wall(s) or appurtenances,” city records showed.
The owners of the building were instructed to install a sidewalk shed in front of the building and to fix the broken façade, but failed to do so in the eight months before Tishman, 60, was killed.
Patrick Muncie, a spokesperson for 729 Acquisition, said they will contest the charges.
“The building was in the process of remediating the façade when the accident occurred,” he said.
Tishman’s family sued the city and 729 Acquisition LLC over the incident in 2020. Lawyers for the Law Department claimed in a response to the suit that Tishman was liable for her own death because the city streets are known to be dangerous, so people on sidewalks should be prepared for the worst.
“Plaintiff(s) knew or should have known in the exercise of due/reasonable care of the risks and dangers incident to engaging in the activity alleged,” the city Law Department wrote in October 2020.
A lawyer for Tishman’s family praised the city for bringing the criminal case.
“It is enraging when real estate developers and big corporations in our city think they can get away with not making critical repairs simply because they do not want to pay the money,” said Benedict Morelli, who represents the family.
“They put New Yorkers at risk every day. We are glad that the city took a stand and pursued criminal charges, and we plan to make sure the building owners and managers are held fully accountable.”
The civil lawsuit against the city and 729 Acquisition LLC is still pending.