NYC security officer dies in construction accident
New York City NY Sept 20 2020
Troy Evans’ family was already preparing for a bittersweet anniversary when they learned of his death Friday afternoon.
The 55-year-old security guard was inside the partially-constructed One Wall Street in the Financial District at 1:48 p.m. when he tumbled six stories down a ventilation shaft into the sub-basement.
First responders pulled out the Queens man and rushed him to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, but he could not be saved.
It was yet another blow for Evans’ relatives on a day already marred by tragedy.
“It’s the anniversary of my brother’s loss at 41 years,” said niece Patrice Reid on Saturday, with tears in her eyes. “My niece’s birthday is today, she was born in the morning, my brother died in the evening. Now here it is, we’re mourning my uncle.”
The city Department of Buildings ordered all work at the site to be halted as they launch an investigation that was continuing Saturday.
For several years, construction crews have been overhauling the 88-year-old Art Deco tower into multi-million dollar condos. Developers also plan to build a 50th floor penthouse with an asking price of $38 million, according to Curbed New York.
But little of that mattered to the family of the Trinidadian immigrant, who worked as a Rikers Island correction officer for 25 years before retiring in 2016.
“We refer to him as the rock of our family,” Reid, 50, told the Daily News, adding that her uncle organized all the family gatherings. “He’s like the glue that kept us all together.”
Evans’ wife and three daughters consoled each other at their Ozone Park home Saturday, but were too grief-stricken to speak.
A stream of mourners had stopped by the home over the last day, leaving flowers and candles on the doorstep.
“He worked hard for his family. He would say as soon as his youngest finished college, he would stop working,” neighbor Tito Munoz said about Evans.
“It’s something that nobody would expect. It’s bad,” said Munoz.
The family declined to talk about the construction, but the Department of Buildings has logged several complaints about the ongoing work at One Wall Street.
Those complaints include construction workers not following social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, work being done outside of pre-approved designs and unsafe scaffoldings.
In July, a construction worker was electrically shocked after he stepped on a power cable, officials said.
Posted 3 weeks ago by PRIVATE OFFICER BREAKING NEWS
