Scaffolding at a Upper Manhattan construction site fell 12 stories onto the head of a 28-year-old worker on the afternoon of Thursday, July 12. The man had been working on a Riverside Drive high-rise in Morningside Heights at the time that he was struck by the support beam. The Staten Island man died upon arrival at the hospital.

A spokesperson for the New York Department of Buildings (DOB) said that a preliminary check of records shows that the contractor for the high-rise construction failed to obtain a permit to make modifications to the building’s facade before the incident occurred. As a result of this, the DOB has issued an order stopping all work at the site.

The site where the incident occurred was slated to be the home of the Columbia University’s International House. Its purpose is to provide both international and graduate students with a place to live.

A DOB spokesperson notes that his agency hasn’t yet decided when the property may once again be accessible to contractors to resume work. He did say, however, that there is a strong likelihood that the contractor will face additional enforcement violations in the near future.

Every night on the news, it seems like there is another incident in which a New York City construction worker is either seriously hurt or killed on the job. It’s likely that the rate of occurrence for these types of incidents is related to the great number of buildings that are currently under construction in the Big Apple. Another possibility is that those in charge of the job sites are repeatedly cutting safety corners when regarding training or obtaining the required permits.

There are a multitude of factors that can cause scaffold collapse injuries. A New York construction accident attorney can advise you how to recover compensation if you’ve been affected by such an incident.