Conrad Black
Senior Member
Toronto architect injured in New York City mishap
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...rchitect-injured-in-new-york-city-mishap.aspx
A Toronto architect may never walk again, after a seven-ton crane load of metal studs crushed his construction trailer near Ground Zero in New York City.
“I’ve been telling him he’s lucky to be alive,†his mother, Marcia Woo, told New York’s Daily News.
Robert Woo, 39, of Toronto-based Adamson Associates Architects, has been in New York since October, working as an associate architect on the new 43-storey Goldman Sachs Building, across from the former site of the World Trade Center. Last Friday, a crane dropped a load of 25 to 30-ft steel studs, used as wall supports, on the trailer where Mr. Woo was working.
“It sounded like a big explosion,’’ said Vincent Verderame, 40, a construction worker at the Murray Street site.
The Department of Buildings said the crane was lifting 14,000 pounds when the its nylon sling failed. The heavy-duty nylon sling was designed to lift 19,000 pounds, the department said in a statement. Kate Lindquist, a department spokeswoman, said engineers had determined that the load was about three-quarters of the way up the building, which has been finished to the 30th floor.
“It essentially crushed [the trailer],†said Richard Kielar, a spokesperson for Tishman Construction Corporation, the construction manager at the site.
Mr. Verderame said he ran over and started pulling Mr. Wu out.
“On a job like this,†he said, “everybody comes running.â€
Mr. Woo, he said, was in shock. “He was having a hard time breathing. He couldn’t move anything from the waist down.â€
Mr. Woo was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital with spinal injuries, where he remains in stable condition.
Mr. Woo’s wife Lisa, told the Daily News that her husband asked her, “Will I be able to walk again?â€
Doctors had told her he might lose the use of his legs. “I told him it was too early to say,†she said.
New York’s Department of Buildings slapped Tishman with four violations and a “stop-work order,†and DCM Erectors Inc., who leased the crane, with one violation. Monday, Tishman’s “stop-work order†was rescinded and replaced with a “partial stop-work order,†which allows work to continue on the site, except for any hoisting or use of the crane.
Mr. Woo is the father of 2-year-old Tristan and 6-month-old Adrien. His wife told the Daily Mail that he was eager to take Tristan on a bicycle ride through Central Park.
“You always think you have until tomorrow to do it, or next week,†she said.
— Story by Jenny Wagler, National Post, with files from The New York Times
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...rchitect-injured-in-new-york-city-mishap.aspx
A Toronto architect may never walk again, after a seven-ton crane load of metal studs crushed his construction trailer near Ground Zero in New York City.
“I’ve been telling him he’s lucky to be alive,†his mother, Marcia Woo, told New York’s Daily News.
Robert Woo, 39, of Toronto-based Adamson Associates Architects, has been in New York since October, working as an associate architect on the new 43-storey Goldman Sachs Building, across from the former site of the World Trade Center. Last Friday, a crane dropped a load of 25 to 30-ft steel studs, used as wall supports, on the trailer where Mr. Woo was working.
“It sounded like a big explosion,’’ said Vincent Verderame, 40, a construction worker at the Murray Street site.
The Department of Buildings said the crane was lifting 14,000 pounds when the its nylon sling failed. The heavy-duty nylon sling was designed to lift 19,000 pounds, the department said in a statement. Kate Lindquist, a department spokeswoman, said engineers had determined that the load was about three-quarters of the way up the building, which has been finished to the 30th floor.
“It essentially crushed [the trailer],†said Richard Kielar, a spokesperson for Tishman Construction Corporation, the construction manager at the site.
Mr. Verderame said he ran over and started pulling Mr. Wu out.
“On a job like this,†he said, “everybody comes running.â€
Mr. Woo, he said, was in shock. “He was having a hard time breathing. He couldn’t move anything from the waist down.â€
Mr. Woo was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital with spinal injuries, where he remains in stable condition.
Mr. Woo’s wife Lisa, told the Daily News that her husband asked her, “Will I be able to walk again?â€
Doctors had told her he might lose the use of his legs. “I told him it was too early to say,†she said.
New York’s Department of Buildings slapped Tishman with four violations and a “stop-work order,†and DCM Erectors Inc., who leased the crane, with one violation. Monday, Tishman’s “stop-work order†was rescinded and replaced with a “partial stop-work order,†which allows work to continue on the site, except for any hoisting or use of the crane.
Mr. Woo is the father of 2-year-old Tristan and 6-month-old Adrien. His wife told the Daily Mail that he was eager to take Tristan on a bicycle ride through Central Park.
“You always think you have until tomorrow to do it, or next week,†she said.
— Story by Jenny Wagler, National Post, with files from The New York Times
