More charges flew on Jan. 5 and 6 against construction officials at the center of two of Manhattan’s highest-profile jobsite accidents in the last 18 months. On Jan. 5, a master rigger was indicted for his alleged actions involving a 200-ft-high tower crane that destabilized and collapsed at a Midtown high-rise site last March, killing six workers and a civilian. William Rapetti, 48, was indicted on multiple charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and reckless endangerment. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau also said Rapetti and his firm Rapetti Rigging Services Inc., Massapequa Park, N.Y., failed to file tax returns for 2006 and 2007. On Jan. 6, another contractor official at the troubled Deutsche Bank asbestos-abatement and demolition site near Ground Zero was indicted. The high-rise was the site of a 2007 fire that trapped and killed two city firefighters.
Rapetti surrendered to authorities and faces a total of up to 27 years in prison if convicted, said Morgenthau. Rapetti on Jan. 5 pleaded not guilty in state supreme court and was released on $75,000 bail. “William Rapetti is determined to help clear his name and demonstrate that he and his company operated and supervised the site in a manner beyond reproach,” says his attorney, Arthur L. Aidala.