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Worker falls to death at jobsite for Gateway tunnel, NYC's largest infrastructure project
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 23, 2025
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Stephen Nessen
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Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 23, 2025
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A construction worker died Thursday morning after falling down a massive hole at a jobsite on Manhattan’s West Side where a new set of Hudson River tunnels are being built, according to the agency overseeing the project.
FDNY Battalion Chief Anthony Romano said the worker wasn’t breathing and had no pulse when he was found at the bottom of the pit at Hudson Yards. Crews performed CPR then hoisted the worker up with a “stokes basket,” a type of stretcher.
“The construction worker was working approximately 50 feet up on the northern wall,” said Romano. “It was a foundation wall that was poured yesterday. We don’t know how or why he fell.”
The man worked for the New York Concrete Corporation, according to officials from the Gateway Development Commission, which is managing the work. Officials said all work was halted at the jobsite while the man's death is under investigation.
The work site includes a hole excavated beneath 11th Avenue, where crews are digging out the first new train tunnels beneath the Hudson River in more than a century.
The $16.1 billion job is the largest public works project in the city. Officials hope to open the new tunnels by 2035, and then close the existing Hudson River tubes to repair damage caused from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Another worker was injured at the job site in June, when he was hit by heavy machinery while working in a 30-foot hole, ABC7 reported.
President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for the Hudson River tunnel project in recent weeks in retaliation to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s role in the ongoing federal government shutdown.
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manhattan
new york city
public safety
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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