From left: Crane owner James Lomma and the Azure at 333 East 91st Street

[Updated at 1:42 p.m. with comments and details from the courtroom] In a move that caught many by surprise, the owner of a crane that collapsed at an Upper East Side condominium in 2008 killing two people was acquitted of all the charges against him today, including manslaughter.

James Lomma was found not guilty of six counts by Judge Daniel Coviser in a packed courtroom in Lower Manhattan, bringing an end to a high-profile and emotionally fraught two-month criminal trial. [more]

James Lomma

The case against he owner of the crane that collapsed in 2008 is winding down, the Associated Press reported, as the final prosecutor summations were delivered today. Prosecuters accuse owner James Lomma of being a cold-hearted businessman who greedily commissioned a spotty, cost-saving repair of a crucial component of the crane and hid it from inspectors. [more]

The site of the crane collapse

Construction on the 7 train extension resumed yesterday afternoon, according to city officials, DNAinfo reported, for the first time since a crane collapse at the West 34th Street and 11th Avenue work site last week killed one construction worker and injured three others. A cable snapped, the second such incident in the last three months, on a crane which was owned and operated by Yonkers Contracting Company, prompting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to suspend work at the site. [more]

From left: the site of the crane collapse, DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri and Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Last week’s crane accident on the Far West Side, which killed one construction worker, has sparked a debate over the control of crane operators — who will hire them and how they will be vetted, the New York Post reported. The union slammed Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saying he is defending the pocket books of “his super-rich developer friends,” by allowing new New York City Department of Buildings regulations that would allow additional crane operators to work in the city, in a statement. [more]

Azure crane collapse

In testimony today in the manslaughter trial of James Lomma, owner of the crane that collapsed in May 2008 during construction of the Azure, deceased construction worker Donald Leo Jr.’s father took the stand, the New York Daily News reported.

Leo held back tears as he recounted his trip uptown to see his son after he was told about the accident, at 333 East 91st Street, at First Avenue, which killed two people. [more]

303 East 51st Street

The documents detailing the wrongful death settlements in the 2008 East 51st Street crane collapse that harmed 31 people have been ordered unsealed by a Manhattan judge, the New York Law Journal reported. The defendants appealed the decision yesterday, The Real Deal has learned.

Justice Carol Edmead said that there was no justification for withholding the settlement amounts from the public now that all seven Labor Law wrongful death cases have been settled. Edmead had temporarily sealed the documents after one of the trials so that previous judgments wouldn’t impact the ones pending. [more]

Pre-trial proceedings in the 2008 Upper East Side crane collapse manslaughter case will be held in open court, the judge has decided, according to the New York Post.

Concerns from prosecutors and victims’ families convinced Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel Conviser to make hearing, crane company owner James Lomma’s hearing, on second-degree manslaughter charges, public, the Post said. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m. The collapse at the Azure, at 333 East 91st Street, at First Avenue, involved a crane owned by Lomma’s company, New York Crane and Equipment Corporation.
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There is only one wrongful-death lawsuit related to the 2008 Turtle Bay crane collapse left unsettled, the New York Post reported. Families of the six other victims settled secretly out of court with the city, crane operator Rapetti Rigging Services, Kennely Development Company and building contractors.

The only outstanding suit is from the family of Santino Gallone, a Rappeti crew member who died in the accident. The case will go before the Manhattan Supreme Court Sept. 12.

There are still however about 43 lawsuits totaling $500 million related to the incident pending from people injured as well as property and business owners, the Post said. [more]

Though he was cleared of manslaughter charges last year, William Rapetti received a punishment for his part in the crane collapse in Midtown in 2008 that killed seven people. A judge today found that the rigger’s sloppy crane work was to blame for the collapse, and recommended his license be revoked, the New York Post reported. Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri has adhered to that recommendation, making Rapetti unable to operate or oversee any cranes in the city.

“We have determined that Mr. Rapetti took shortcuts while erecting the tower crane by using damaged equipment and failing to follow the manufacturer’s specific instructions,” LiMandri said. “Those shortcuts sacrificed the safety of the job site and led to horrific consequences.” [more]

From left: Crane owner James Lomma and the Azure at 333 East 91st Street

The owner of the crane company implicated in the deadly 2008 collapse at the Upper East Side’s Azure is suing the construction company that had rented his crane for $1.1 million in damages, the Post reported. The owner, James Lomma, is currently awaiting trial on manslaughter charges after a judge turned down his bid to get the case dismissed last month. He and mechanic Tibor Varganyi were accused of arranging for a cheap welding job on the 200-foot-tall crane, which failed after a month of use. [more]