The Department of Buildings (DOB) has issued 12 violations to several parties involved in the Long Island City crane collapse that injured seven workers earlier this month.
According to the DOB, combined, these violations have a minimum penalty of $132,800, and $64,000 of that amount was issued to the crane’s operator, Paul Geer.
“Cranes are complex pieces of equipment that serve as the driving force of any major construction project. They must be properly operated and maintained, and when that fails to occur, there can be serious consequences. In this case, neither the crane operator nor his supervisors made sure the operation was being performed according to approved plans,” said DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri.
A preliminary investigation by the DOB found that Geer tried to lift 23,900 pounds of lumber at the 46-10 Center Boulevard site, more than double the crane’s weight capacity. The DOB also said that that Geer couldn’t see what he was picking up and was lifting the materials outside the approved loading zone.
Geer and the contractor, Cross Country Construction, LLC, received five violations for operating a crane in an unsafe manner, failure to inspect equipment prior to operation, work that does not conform to approved construction documents, failure to safeguard all persons and property affected by construction operations, and failure to post proper load chart for crane.
The site safety manager, Arthur Covelli, and the property owner, TF Cornerstone, were also each issued a violation for failure to safeguard all persons and property affected by construction operations.
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