Elevator tragedy
NYCHA worker electrocuted day after boss axed
AN ELEVATOR mechanic working at a NYCHA development in Brooklyn died Friday after an apparent electrocution.
The death of the worker came the same day NYCHA officials announced the head of the elevator division had been fired. Ken Buny was bounced following a pair of recent accidents — one of them fatal — involving faulty lifts.
Hours before the accident, NYCHA revealed a new plan to ratchet up elevator inspections across its 328 developments. It was not immediately known if the worker was part of that effort.
Around 11:20 a.m. a worker at the Coney Island Houses found Igor Begun, 54, lying unconscious on the roof, officials said. He died at the scene.
Begun, a mechanic’s helper, had been working inside the mechanical room on the roof of the W. 25th St. building.
The death was being investigated as a “possible electrocution” but the city medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, officials said. One source at the scene said Begun may have died of a heart attack.
“Our hearts go out to the family,” said NYCHA CEO and Chair Shola Olatoye. “As we await the medical examiner’s findings on the cause of this tragedy, we offer our condolences on behalf of the NYCHA community.”
Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA workers, said, “This tragic death is felt by every member of Local 237. While the circumstances of Igor Begun’s death are still being investigated, we extend our sincere sorrow to his family and know that he will be sorely missed.”
The push to inspect elevators more aggressively came after one tenant died and a second was seriously injured in December in accidents involving elevators in two Bronx NYCHA developments.
On Friday the authority announced it had replaced the head of the elevator division and begun disciplinary proceedings against five other NYCHA workers for their handling of one of the incidents.
On Dec. 24 an elderly tenant died when he fell out of a lurching lift at the Boston Road Houses. On Dec. 2 a NYCHA tenant broke his leg after he was trapped in a Morris Houses elevator.
In March the city Department of Investigation discovered a series of communication breakdowns in the fatal accident, including workers who failed to pass on a warning that the elevator was dangerous.
The DOI also discovered that the elevator division was neglecting to inspect certain mechanisms that were in the two lifts where the accidents took place — plus 1,080 more throughout the city.