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Yesterday morning, a 51 year old woman was hit by an air conditioner unit that fell out an East 104th Street window. The Post reports Lynda Kneish had been walking on the sidewalk when the AC tumbled from the third floor, and her "right leg was crushed, the bone shattered. She also suffered broken ribs, a broken pelvis, fractured vertebrae, and internal bleeding." Yikes. Kneish's husband, who was waiting for a friend nearby, said, "I came around and saw the police. I asked them what happened and then I saw my wife lying on the floor." It turns out maintenance men had been working on the AC, and it also turns out the Kneishes are "contemplating legal action." You know, if you're working on the AC unit, especially window units, isn't the number one thing to do is make sure it's totally secure?
Photograph of bowl as air-conditioner-prop from Michele Howley's cool props
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In my building the board passed some BS law forcing every tenant to have a professionally installed "outside shelf" for the the A/C units, each costing, with labor included, $380. This is total bullshit. The law in most owner contracts states that the owner(s) are responsible for everything inside the apt, not including piping and outdoor arrangements, such as an A/C shelf for security. While i think they're important, I do not think the tenant or owners should have to flip the bill.
Actually, it works like this.. if you're injured by a falling A/C from some apartment on the 4th floor... Who would you sue, some hipster kid who works at starbucks and has his parents pay his rent (the tenant) or the corporation that owns the building? If you guessed both.. you're right.. you can and SHOULD sue both. Therefore, having a building owner protect himself by requiring the installation of a professionally installed shelf (as opposed to a noodle bowl) for support of the air conditioner is there to save YOUR ass and his/hers. If the shelf fails and causes the injury well then, guess what.. you can also sue the contractor who installed the shelf improperly and pass all liability through upon them. $380 is a small price to pay for the protection you can get against quite the jury verdict these days.
"contemplating legal action"?
If there health insurance doesn't cover all of this poor woman's medical care, They wouldn't have much choice.
Nevermind the medical costs if someone's poorly installed AC unit falls on you and shatters bones inside your body, what about a lot of pain and a lot of suffering? Of course going to court causes those too.
i'm really shocked this sort of thing doesn't happen more, and if it does, i rarely seem to hear about it. those things are like bombs.. given the number of times we walk under one during a given day, just statistically you'd think it would happen all the time...
NotCrap is so SO right. I have ground floor access to a garden in my building. You can imagine my horror when last summer, I opened up the backdoor to find a shattered air conditioner had fallen from somewhere above, puncturing a huge hole in the deck. Later I came across a 20 something kid in the hallway who appeared to be moving out. "I don't suppose you lost your air conditioner?" I said. "Huh? Oh yeah, my mom tried to move it (this is his mother who is AT LEAST 55) and it turns out she couldn't get it out of the window because it was too heavy so it fell. We've been making fun of her all day." Ummm YEAH. They could've killed someone. Glad to know they had some good family fun in the process, though.
Idiots.
"Res ipsa loquitur." Of course they should sue. It is clear that someone is liable because air conditioners don't fall out of buildings unless someone is negligent, and it is foreseeable that someone on the ground will be injured or killed if the unit falls. It's up to the defendants, not the victim, to figure out who among them is at fault.
I think it happens once a summer. Even Pat Kiernan commented on it's rare occurrence.
It's scarier taking an AC out than putting one in.
(and if you're scared of heights and live in a high rise only adds to the fun)
Beg to differ. It's easy to pull an AC out of the window. There's not much of a consequence if you pull too far. But putting it in the window is tough. You're desperately trying to get it far enough out the window to rest on the frame but not so far out that it slips right out of your hands into open air.
Call me crazy, but I tie the power cord around my waist and barely crack open the window beyond the size of the AC when I move it.
Despite a truly elaborate rigging system, I'm terrified mine is going to fall from our fourth floor apartment. Be careful off Morgan!
I have nightmares about my AC falling out of my window...the cold-sweat, creepy dreams. It's been sitting comfortably without any supports other than the window for over a year and a half, but it's been a recurring dream. After reading about this incident, I've finally decided to pay the landlord $70 to install some serious supports. Until then it sits on the fire escape.
William asked about an ac that falls and wrote "shatters bones inside your body." Can I assume that there are also bones outside a body. Sorry, couldn't resist busting balls.
Hope that building isn't a coop, cause then they're fooked.
the resident crazy lady in the building that i recently moved from has had hers propped on a narrow "shelf" jutting out below her window for about three years. it's very precarious-looking and i'm surprised that it hasn't fallen. in fact, every time i would walk home or leave i would always move to the curb when passing beneath her window. i can only hope that she doesn't injure or kill somebody.
I know all about the panic of setting up an A/C. After I successfully installed mine my hands were shaking and I had broken into a cold sweat, so afraid was I it would brain somebody on the crowded street below.
I'd gladly pay 380 for the proper installation of A/C because I'm constantly worried that an accident might happen. As the A/C could well fall on my OWN head.
Tenants could get maybe arrange with their landlord to get something for leaving the shelf behind when they move if they're really against it.
But I think building inspectors should force tenants to remove their A/C if not properly installed on pain of fines, with fines applicable it the same tenant hasn't taken care of it by the next time.
Landlords know damned well tenants will get A/C, they should get involved.
It actually happens more than once a summer. Last summer it seems like it happened at least four times that I heard of.
this is my new york city paranoid nightmare. i can't even stand to put my AC in or take it out, it makes me nervous!
Mine rests on the fire escape now, which I'm sure isn't allowed but gives me incredible piece of mind. I dropped the A/C at my last house out of a second-floor window (into the concrete yard, thank God), busted the awning and almost killed the house dog...
It never ceases to amaze me, the risks that people take with potentially lethal outcomes.
Note that it didn't just fall because the supports or window frame gave way. Someone was working on it and didn't take the proper precautions. The person responsible deserves jail time. What if it had landed on a stroller? Is it really worth a dead baby to save 1 minute?