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Update: Construction Worker Reportedly Killed By Falling Piece Of Facade In Midtown East
By
Claire Lampen
Published Apr 8, 2019
Modified Apr 9, 2019
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By
Claire Lampen
Published Apr 8, 2019
Modified Apr 9, 2019
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A construction worker died Monday morning after his scaffolding pulled a copestone loose from a building's facade: It hit Nelson Salinas on the head and knocked him out, the NY Daily News reports.
Police arrived at 311 East 50th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, around 11:50 on Monday morning. They found 51-year-old Salinas lying unconscious and unresponsive on a scaffold, having suffered trauma to his head. First responders initially said he was in critical condition, and EMS transported him to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital, where attendants pronounced him dead. Salinas lived in Ozone Park, Queens.
Because the investigation is ongoing, an NYPD spokesperson would not confirm that the deceased worked as a window washer, as was previously reported. According to the Daily News, though, Vlad Restoration—a remodeling company based in Ozone Park—employed Salinas. (The company could not be reached for comment.) A police source reportedly told the NY Post that investigators did not believe there had been any foul play, saying: "There's no criminality suspected. It seems like a loose brick."
An FDNY spokesperson told Gothamist the investigation is ongoing and could not confirm details about the cause of the incident.
This article has been updated to reflect that the victim was a construction worker, not a window washer, and that the object was a copestone, and not a brick, as previously stated. We have also updated to include the name of the deceased, Nelson Salinas.
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