HARDHAT KILLED ON B’KLYN JAIL PROJECT
Worker’s death in Sept. plunge led to safety probe, suit vs. city
A 64-year-old construction worker died following an accident at the construction site for the new $3 billion Brooklyn borough jail in September in an incident not previously reported, the Daily News has learned.
Yong Chin Son fell 18 feet through a hole that had been covered by loose planking while removing asbestos on the 11th story of the old Brooklyn House of Detention at 275 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn Heights, official accounts supplied to The News said. The shuttered 68-year-old jail was in the early stages of demolition to make way for the new jail.
Son, of Flushing, Queens, was taken to a local hospital after the Sept. 13 fall. He died three days later, on Sept. 16.
His death led city officials to stop work at the jobsite for 22 days and slap a series of violations of safety rules on the construction company involved. Work on the roof area was halted for a longer period while the city conducted an extended safety review.
Son worked for the firm International Asbestos Removal Inc. and was a member of Laborers Local 78 for 13 years. “He was planning to retire next year. He was very well respected,” said Local 78 President Jan Sanislo.
Andrew Wanger, a lawyer for Son’s family, filed a notice Nov. 2 to sue the city for $15 million on negligence grounds for failing to provide safety measures such as a ladder, a harness or scaffolding, records show.
“This tragic event was easily preventable. Instead of properly covering a hole with an 18-foot drop, they merely laid loose planks over it,” Wanger said. “Considering the scale of this project, it’s hard to imagine how they overlooked this dangerous situation. They really dropped the ball.”
The claim blames “defective or unsecured planking” for the fall and alleges Son suffered traumatic brain injury, fractured ribs and collapsed lungs.
The account provided by city officials said that just before 7 a.m. on Sept 13, Son was walking backward and pulling a plastic sheet on the 11th floor of the 70-year-old structure when he fell through the hole in the roof, officials said. The hole had been covered by a loose wooden plank that had been knocked aside.
He fell 18 feet to the 10th floor, suffering injuries to his head and torso, the official account said. He was unconscious but breathing when he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist in stable condition.
Son lingered in the hospital for three days before he died.
A subsequent investigation showed that the planking covering the hole on the roof was not secure, said Buildings Department spokesman Ryan Degan. There were no other safeguards, such as guardrails or markings, in
place, Degan said.
The probe also found that a required safety meeting that morning didn’t address the hole and that a scaffolding system that was supposed to be in place was not.
International Asbestos Removal left the job and was replaced by another contractor, city officials said. The company did not respond to an email from The News.
City Department of Design and Construction spokesman Ian Michaels said the incident led to a review of jobsite safety at all four new borough jail sites and all city projects the asbestos firm was working on.
Design and Construction also issued a new safety plan for the borough-based jail sites. “These requirements are now included in contractors’ site safety plans submitted for all DDC construction projects,” Michaels said.
“There was additional safety training for staff and contractors. And additional safety advisories about working on elevated surfaces were distributed to every DDC jobsite.”
The city medical examiner’s office concluded Son’s death was accidental from blunt-force trauma to his head and torso.
A review by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is ongoing, an OSHA spokesman said.
Son’s death brought an outpouring of sympathy on the Facebook page maintained by Local 78. His funeral was held Sept. 21 in Flushing.
“I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Son, a very excellent person. RIP, my condolences to his family,” wrote Edson Matute.
Former Local 78 union rep Jorge Roldan wrote, “[It] is sad when a coworker dies, and worse yet when it is a result of an accident.”
The jail project was supposed to be completed by the 2027 deadline for the closure of Rikers Island, but it has been delayed at least two years to 2029, The News previously reported. The Brooklyn jail is one of four jails to be built as part of the Rikers closing plan. The other jails are to be built in Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.
Asked why Son’s death was not publicly disclosed, Degan, the Buildings Department spokesman, and Michaels, the Design and Construction Department spokesman, said statistics on injuries and fatalities are disclosed in annual and semiannual reports.
The NYPD had a report on the accident and Son’s initial injuries, but not on his death.
Son’s death took place during a period when the Correction Department was facing criticism for not disclosing detainee deaths, but waiting for the media to ask about them.
The new correction commissioner, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, recently reversed that policy following the death of detainee Chima Williams on Jan. 4.