Worker falls to death at McSam Hotel Group construction site

A construction worker fell to his death from the ninth floor of Sam Chang‘s hotel project at 111 East 24th Street Tuesday morning, according to the New York Police Department.

The 33-year-old worker, who has not been named, was found dead around 9 a.m. He had been working on installing the elevator at the 12-story project developed by Chang’s McSam Hotel Group, according to Crain’s. The worker was not tied to a fall-protection safety line while he was installing the elevator, city Department of Buildings officials said.

It’s the second worker death at a McSam site in the last five years. A construction worker was crushed by a concrete slab in 2014 at 326 West 27th Street, which now houses a Hilton Garden Inn.

The worker killed on Tuesday had worked for U-Tek Elevator, a Brooklyn-based company, city officials said. The New York Daily News reported that labor on the project is non-union.

McSam Hotel Group and U-Tek both declined to comment on the death.

The DOB has stopped work at 111 E. 24th Street. Fines may be forthcoming.

Chang acquired the 99-year triple net lease on the property in November 2014 for $900,000 a year.

In December, a construction worker died after a piece of metal fell on his head at 61 Ninth Avenue, a boutique office project developed by Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates. Construction worker Juan Chonillo died at 161 Maiden Lane in September after falling 29 stories off Fortis Property Group’s condominium project 1 Seaport. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small