FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Richard Gurfein, Esq.
Gurfein/Douglas
11 Park Place
New York, NY 1100
212-406-1600
LOOKOUT BELOW
But Don’t Try Blaming the City If You Get Hurt
“Cross the street if you have to, take a different route home and to work, don’t let your kids play underneath them and complain like hell if you see something that looks unsafe,” warns Richard Gurfein, of the law firm Gurfein/Douglas, commenting on the recent NYC Building Department report that cited safety hazards at hundreds of sidewalk sheds set up at construction sites to protect pedestrians from falling debris.
Mr. Gurfein, a personal injury lawyer in New York City with a degree in electrical engineering, explained that all sidewalk sheds and scaffolds are now required by Local Law No. 33 to have a twenty-five foot sign on the outer wall of the shed that displays the permit holders name, address, telephone number, permit number and the permit expiration date.
“If someone has a complaint or concern, they should look for the sign that identifies the permit holder and call the number on the sign,” Gurfein urges. “If the information is missing, pedestrians should notify the borough’s Department of Buildings, Construction Division immediately.”
Gurfein recommends that pedestrians would be wise to look at the walls of the scaffolding to make sure they are solid, without gaps and that no part of them is hanging loosely. Regulations also require that adequate lighting be maintained under the shed and bulbs must be inspected daily and replaced as necessary.
“It’s very important for people to realize,” he added, “that the contractor, subcontractor who installed the shed, and the owner of the property are all responsible for pedestrian safety and can be held liable if someone is injured by falling wood, glass, hardware and other construction debris.”
The City of New York, however, is not generally liable.
“Under the law, the City isn’t responsible if a shed accident happens,” Gurfein explained. “The City is merely exercising it’s municipal duty to the population at large and cant’ be held liable unless a specific promise was made to a specific person about a specfic condition. For example, the people who filed a notice of claim against the city for the recent crane collapse are wasting their time if their claim is merely that the City failed to perform its inspections properly.”
Gurfein suggests that neighborhood residents who must live with the months-long, or years-long intrusion of a sidewalk shed should contact their borough’s Construction Division of the Department of Buildings and ask for a speaker to come to a group meeting to assure residents that the shed is safe and to explain what the division intends to do to keep it that way.
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