Oliver Wells
Last Thursday (01/02), 45-year-old Elie William fell to his death while working on the luxury Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. William had been helping an electrician before falling through a hole in a suspended catwalk and dropping 40 feet to his death. The hotel is undergoing a $2 billion renovation to add 375 condos, ranging from around $2 million to nearly $19 million per unit.
The death comes less than a month after 45 year-old Jose Ramirez Munoz was killed while working on the demolition of the Community Church of New York, 15 blocks south of the Waldorf Astoria. Munoz was smashed against a steel beam in a cherry picker and pronounced dead at the scene, while another construction worker was injured in the accident as well. The church and its affiliated brownstones included a rent-stabilized apartment building and a homeless shelter, which are being demolished to make way for luxury condominiums by real estate developer Continuum in a $66 million sale.
According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry had the highest number of fatalities across all industries in 2023, which was also the highest for the industry since 2011.
Photo: Demolition site of the Community Church of New York.
