One Worker Killed, Another Injured In Fall At Midtown Construction Site

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One worker was killed and another one rushed to the hospital after falling from a construction site in Midtown Thursday.

Police were called around 2 p.m. to 400 W. 33rd St. at Ninth Avenue, a short distance from Penn Station. Police and the Department of Buildings said the two men had been in an external elevator shaft at about the third floor when they fell.

One worker, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The other worker, also 45, was rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and his condition was reported to be stable.

The identity of the man who died was not being released Thursday afternoon pending family notification.

The workers were employed by contractor EJ Electric, according to the Department of Buildings.

In an unrelated incident, a worker also fell to his death at another construction site in Lower Manhattan less than five hours earlier. That accident happened around 9:20 a.m. Thursday at a luxury apartment building under construction at 161 Maiden Ln. in the Financial District near the South Street Seaport.

Police said 43-year-old Juan Chohillo of Queens was a carpenter for a concrete company working on the top story when he fell onto scaffolding on the first level, 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported.

Chohillo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the second accident, City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-45th) offered "prayers for peace and comfort, and my heartfelt condolences" to the family of the worker who was killed, and also prayers for the worker who was injured. But he also took the city to task for not protection construction crews.

"That we should grieve the loss of a second worker in one day, that their families are now in mourning, is unfathomable. That these accidents occur with such frequency is unbelievable. That more is not being done to protect those who build this great city is unconscionable," Williams said in a statement. "I can only hope that we as a city move quickly to change the culture and environment that undervalues workers' safety and well-being. I continue to work to make these issues a priority."