UPDATE: Friday, Sept. 16 at 8:28 a.m. A construction worker fell to his death on Thursday from the 42th floor of the Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity’s office-and-residential condominium conversion project of the Flatotel at 135 West 52nd Street.
Officials were called to the scene at 2:15 p.m., and found the man unconscious and seriously injured, according to ABC-7.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not yet released the man’s identity. It’s not yet clear what the worker was doing when he fell.
His death could mark the seventh construction-related death in the city so far this year, according to data compiled by OSHA.
The federal government counted 17 deaths at construction sites last year. By the city’s count — which only includes fatalities that violate the city’s construction code — there were 12 deaths on construction sites last year.
Chetrit [TRDataCustom] has had a number of issues with the conversion of the tower in the last year. A lawsuit filed in October by Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and BTA, one of the country’s largest banks, alleged that Chetrit had accepted a $40 million investment in stolen money. The suit was settled in November. Chetrit, who has $100 million in equity in the Flatotel conversion, has prevented the alleged thieves from taking their money out of the project. A judge has allowed sales to continue. [ABC-7] — Kathryn Brenzel
Correction: Due to a reporting error by the city, an earlier version of this article reported that the man died from 1301 Sixth Avenue.