On December 14, 2007, a crane's nylon sling, carrying seven tons of steel beams, broke and fell 25 stories onto a construction trailer at the site of the new Goldman Sachs headquarters. Inside the trailer was Robert Woo, a Canadian architect, and he was nearly killed by the crash and doctors said he might not walk again. But recently Woo has been walking, thanks to the Ekso bionic exoskeleton: CityRoom visited Woo at Mount Sinai Medical Center and took video. more ›

Construction foreman Louis Zaruma was putting up steel framework on a residential building on Bedford Avenue in Clinton Hill when he lost his balance around 3:40 p.m. yesterday. The 35-year-old Williamsburg resident fell about 50 feet and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. A Buildings Department spokesman said that Zaruma "was not wearing a safety harness." "He was a hardworking man and a loving husband, a family man, a good friend," his wife said of Zaruma, who immigrated from Ecuador ten years ago, according to the Daily News. more ›

As hardhats disassembled scaffolding on an Eighth Avenue high-rise on Thursday, a construction worker fell eight stories when a plank collapsed beneath him. Workers had just finished façade repairs on the 20-story building at the corner of 38th Street when a section of scaffolding collapsed on the 16th floor at around 2:15 pm, according to the Daily News. Jose Paulino, 29, plummeted all the way to the eighth floor, bumping off of metal support beams on the way down, which slowed his fall. more ›

Brooklyn Heights construction worker Robert Keller appeared to be as dead when an out-of-control, drugged-up driver came heading straight for him at 60 mph while at his Far Rockaway work site last Friday. But his life was saved by Ossining's Michael Hudson, the flagman on his crew, who shoved Keller, took the blow of the speeding vehicle along with him and ended up losing a leg in the process. Hudson still has internal bleeding and has just been released from intensive care. Keller tells the Daily News his co-worker was his "guardian angel." Hudson's girlfriend said, "He looked awful, and I didn't know if he was going to make it. I didn't know if he would live to hear me say 'I love you' one last time." As for the woman who admitted to cops that she had smoked crack and was arguing with her passenger before plowing into the construction site near JFK, she is in jail with bail set at $250,000. Yolanda Silvera of Long Island has been charged with second-degree assault, second-degree vehicular assault, second degree reckless endangerment, DWI and other violations. more ›

WCBS 2 reports that a construction worker at 11 Times Square (Eight Avenue, between 41st & 42nd Streets) was injured "after concrete fell on him as he worked in a pit." The incident occurred around 4 a.m. and WABC 7 adds, "All the debris fell on the lower-half of the worker's body." Deputy Fire Chief Steve Morelli said this morning's rain made the rescue difficult, "They were moving some debris out of the way to get some more work done. From what I was told they moved some debris out of the way and sections of a retaining wall fell." In fact, another person as injured during the rescue after slipping on debris. The victim is in critical condition at an area hospital. more ›

It's a phrase that's become too familiar: Yesterday, a worker died in a construction accident. According to the Daily News, Miguel Rodriguez, 38, fell five stories from his scaffolding: "Rodriguez was wearing a harness, but it was not tethered to the W. 111th St. building in Morningside Heights where he was repointing bricks, witnesses and officials said." In Brooklyn, a worker was injured when he fell three stories at a site--he was not wearing his harness. Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said, "These things should never happen. If you're a construction worker, be safe, wear your harness and tie your lifeline." Just last week, a crane rigger fell 40 stories--he, too, was wearing a harness but it was not attached to anything. more ›

On a day when construction workers who died on the job were being remembered and on the start of the Department of Buildings' Construction Safety Week, a construction worker was crushed under a front-end loader at site in Staten Island. more ›

Today's high winds may be to blame for a construction worker's death in Fort Greene. Around 10AM, the FDNY tells WNBC that a "construction worker had been working on the 13th floor when are large gust of wind picked up the scaffold he was standing on and blew him over the edge and on to a setback at street level." more ›