Construction Worker Seriously Injured at JDS Development Group/Starwood Capital Group Luxury Condo Renovation
Build Up NYC Demands Site Inspection & Worker Safety Be #1 Priority
Dozens of construction as well as hotel and building operations and maintenance workers, accompanied by local elected officials and other workplace safety advocacy groups, gathered outside the JDS Development Group/Starwood Capital Group construction site at 425-435 West 50 Street on Monday following a dangerous accident that took place Friday, February 21 at that site when a worker fell from a scaffold and was seriously injured. This is now the second major accident at a JDS Development Group construction site to take place this year.
The building, known as Stella Tower, was purchased by JDS Development Group and Starwood Capital Group for $20 million with 51 units expected to sell for up to $9 million upon completion of the renovation.
Gary LaBarbera, president of Build Up NYC said, "The work these men and women are doing is going to make JDS Development Group and Starwood Capital Group a lot of money, but there is no respect for the workers or the law. This site needs to be inspected and these workers need to be provided with the safety equipment and training they need to do this renovation safely."
World Class Demolition, one of the contractors on the project and a usual collaborator of the developers, also has a faulty worker safety record, having been fined $3,500 after a worker fell at the renovation job at 210 West 18 Street. The job was also a project of JDS Development Group and Starwood Capital Group, and finished with 20 violations reported to the Department of Buildings and more than $18,000 in fines since 2011.
"Safety on construction sites should be the top priority of construction companies," said Council Member Corey Johnson. "As a former member and Chair of Community Board 4, I fought to make sure worker safety was a priority at construction sites and that good jobs were created through responsible development. I will continue that work in the City Council. We cannot allow developers to cut corners on safety measures when lives are at risk."
State Senator Brad Hoylman added, "This tragic construction accident is just the latest consequence of Starwood Capital and JDS Development's lack of regard for worker safety. At another recently completed Starwood/JDS project in my district on West 18th Street, the developers and their contractor racked up 20 reported safety violations and more than $18,000 in fines. Fines for safety violations cannot be accepted as the cost of doing business. Starwood and JDS must maintain safe job sites and be held accountable."
According to "The Price of Inaction: The Cost of Unsafe Construction in New York City," a report by Public Citizen, 36 New York City construction workers lost their lives on the job in 2011 and 2012, with 72% of the fatalities taking place on job sites where workers did not participate in state-approved training and apprenticeship programs. Fatal construction injuries in New York City in those years cost the New York City economy $186.3 million.
Susan McQuade, health and safety specialist at the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health said, "Here is another example of a worker getting injured on what appears to be an unsafe worksite. The site has a scaffold over 6 feet, with no railing, and the workers aren't given harnesses—which are required by law given the height. The tragedy in these kinds of accidents is that they can usually be prevented if the employer maintains a safe job site."
"The people who build our city face unnecessary dangers when they work for contractors who too often fail to offer proper safety equipment or training," said Connie Razza, director of strategic research at the Center for Popular Democracy. "On Friday, another worker was injured in a fall from scaffolding. With inadequate funding on the national level for inspections and investigations, the New York State Scaffold Law is a last protection for workers who are endangered by their employers' cost-saving shortcuts."
"Fatal Inequality: Workplace Safety Eludes Construction Workers of Color in New York State," a report published by the Center for Popular Democracy in October 2013, concluded that "workers of color disproportionately face construction dangers because they work in construction in high numbers."
"Immigrant workers do some of the most dangerous jobs but often have fewer safety protections," added Joel Martinez of Make the Road New York. "We hear about construction accidents a lot at the Make the Road New York workers' committee, and this tragic accident is just the most recent example of an injury that could have been prevented with the proper safety equipment. Workers should not be risking their lives on the job—that's why we need the Scaffold Law to protect workers."
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Workers Justice Project said, ""We strongly condemn dreadful working conditions and labor exploitation in residential construction sites in and around New York City, where low-wage workers are employed. We cannot let contractors like JDS reap large economic benefits at cost workers lives."
Build Up NYC is an alliance of working men and women committed to good jobs that sustain the middle class and a level playing field for responsible employers.