Man Hit By Falling Ice Says Building's Managers Could Have Done More For Pedestrians' Safety

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man who was struck in the face by a chunk of ice that fell from a Midtown building on Wednesday says the building's managers didn't do enough to keep pedestrians safe.

As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported Friday, Barry Negron was still bandaged, swollen and bruised when he revisited the Plaza Arcade building on West 48th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

"It hit with so much force that I started panicking. I knew I was bleeding because I could see it on my hands and I was spitting out blood, and I heard two females yelling, like, 'Oh my God.' So as soon as they said that I panicked and I said, 'Please someone help me, please someone help me," Negron recalled.

The 27-year-old was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center where he received 80 stitches. The ice had cut his face from his nose to his lip, Carrasco reported.

He was also left with a black eye.

"My right eye is still a little blurry they said it's going to take about a month," he said.

Negron, who sells security equipment near the Plaza Arcade, said ironically, he was warning people about the falling ice when he was hit.

Now, he and his attorney believe the building's managers failed to keep people walking in front of the building safe.

"Buildings are required to make sure pedestrians are safe," said attorney Marc Miner. "They need to take reasonable precautions and we're here to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

"I never even thought that something like this could ever happen to me," Negron said.

Negron has yet to officially file a lawsuit against the managers of the Plaza Arcade building. CBS 2 could not reach the building's owners for comment.

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