Safety
$2B Waldorf Astoria Renovation in NYC Resumes After Jobsite Fatality
“In the catwalk area, the worker was walking on top of the drywall ceiling when they fell 40 feet below, landing inside of the third-floor ballroom,” said the New York City Dept. of Buildings in its initial report. Boston-based Suffolk Construction is the general contractor on the project.
Credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Construction work has resumed on a $2-billion hotel renovation in New York City nearly a week after a craftworker fell to his death and a full-stop work order was issued by the New York City Dept. of Buildings.
First responders were called around 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 2 to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan where 45-year-old Elie William was pronounced dead on the scene. According to an initial investigation by the department, he was assisting a licensed master electrician in the catwalk area between the third-floor ballroom and the fourth floor when he fell.
“In the catwalk area, the worker was walking on top of the drywall ceiling when they fell 40 feet below, landing inside of the third-floor ballroom,” the department reported, adding that its investigation, “conducted in coordination with our partners in law enforcement,” is ongoing.
It is not clear what firm was William's direct employer. Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co. is general contractor on the project.
“Falls are consistently the biggest threat to the safety of workers on the construction site, which is why contractors and site safety professionals are mandated to implement extensive safeguards to prevent them from happening,” said the department in a statement to ENR.
“We are committed to fully investigating the series of events that led to this fall and taking appropriate enforcement actions against the responsible parties if we find that any safety rules were ignored.”
Any penalties must await the investigation results.
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Home to the Waldorf Astoria since its construction in 1931, the building was closed in 2017 upon changing owners, with plans to remodel the structure into a hybrid commercial and residential space with 375 condominiums and 377 hotel rooms, including 50,000 sq ft of entertainment and commercial space.
Suffolk Construction, which ranked No. 25 on ENR’s 2024 Top 400 Contractor List, won all three phases of the project. A spokesperson for the contractor deferred comment to the project’s owner.
