New York crane accident - two charged

Charges have been laid against two of the crew dismantling the crane that collapsed in New York on 4 September.

Reports in the New York Times said brothers James and Christopher Van Duyne were accused of compromising safety by cutting the safety guardrail on a work platform attached to the tower crane, 40 floors above the street.

The charges say that cutting the guardrail compromised the rigging and structural integrity of the platform from which Anthony Esposito (the brother-in-law of one of the accused men) fell to his death.

Esposito’s safety harness was not secured. 

His brother Michael Esposito, was also part of the eight-member team dismantling the crane but there is no question about his conduct.

The city authorities have also suspended the crane licenses of the Van Duyne brothers. Comment on the suspension the lawyer for James Van Duyne is quoted as saying it was “based on a tragic accident that was not caused by them and had no connection with the operation of a crane. To think that Jim and/or Chris would put themselves and their family in danger — including their brother-in-law — is absurd.”

Rose Gill Hearn, commissioner at the Department of Investigation, is quoted as saying: “Despite months and months of public pleas for construction safety, our investigators found glaring violations at a high-rise work site where a construction worker fell to his death.”