Construction accident lawyer in Harlem

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Construction Accident Lawyer in Harlem

Harlem's residential rehab volume has been heavy for years: brownstone restorations across Central Harlem, NYCHA capital work in the developments, and Columbia Manhattanville expansion in West Harlem. I represent the workers building these projects. Free consultation. Hablamos español.

Call: 718-261-0546

Where Harlem construction injuries happen

The brownstone-restoration corridor across Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Boulevard) and along Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard between 116th and 145th Street runs continuous façade, parapet, and roof work. Suspended scaffolds drop alongside three- to five-story townhouses, often above active sidewalks. Falls from suspended scaffolds, falling brick during façade cuts, and parapet failures cluster here. The St. Nicholas Avenue corridor adds a steady volume of mid-rise residential rehab and ground-floor commercial fit-out work.

The 125th Street commercial spine runs constant interior renovation, with the new mid-rise developments near Frederick Douglass Boulevard adding tower-construction exposure. Crane and hoist activity on these jobs sits next to one of the busiest pedestrian and bus corridors in upper Manhattan. Falling-object injuries to workers staging materials on the sidewalk are a real claim type. East Harlem along 116th Street at Lexington and the NYCHA developments along Madison and Park add a different exposure: capital-improvement work on occupied housing, with the procedural complications of a public defendant.

Public-property cases here carry a hard 90-day Notice of Claim deadline under General Municipal Law § 50-e. Workers injured on NYCHA developments, NYC DOE school construction, MTA upper-Manhattan station work, or any state property must file the Notice within 90 days or the case is over. The three-year private-defendant statute does not save a missed Notice. Call within the first 30 days at the latest if the site is public.

NY Labor Law § 240(1), the Scaffold Law in 200 words

NY Labor Law § 240(1) imposes absolute liability on property owners and general contractors when an elevation-related construction injury occurs because a required safety device was absent, defective, or inadequate. Falls from scaffolds, ladders, roofs, and platforms qualify. Falling-object injuries qualify too: tools, debris, or unsecured materials that fall and strike a worker. After Wilinski v. 334 East 92nd Hous. Dev. Fund Corp., 18 N.Y.3d 1 (2011), even short-fall objects qualify when the weight and force create a meaningful elevation differential.

Absolute liability means comparative negligence is not a defense. Once the plaintiff proves the statute was violated and the violation caused the injury, the worker's own conduct does not reduce the recovery.

Labor Law § 241(6) treats specific Industrial Code Part 23 violations as negligence per se and runs alongside § 240 in most pleadings.

Immigration status does not bar a claim. Under Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338 (2006), undocumented workers retain full damages, including lost wages, in New York personal injury cases.

What to do after a Harlem construction accident

1. Get medical attention. Harlem Hospital Center on Lenox Avenue is right in the heart of the neighborhood. Mount Sinai Morningside on Amsterdam is the alternative for West Harlem sites. Tell the ER it was a work injury so the records reflect it.
2. Report to your supervisor and document witnesses. Brownstone-rehab and NYCHA capital crews rotate fast.
3. File New York Workers' Compensation within 30 days. Do this regardless of whether you plan a third-party case.
4. Call within the first 30 days if the site is public. The 90-day Notice of Claim against NYCHA, the City, MTA, NYC Transit, or State is non-extendable in most cases. Documented and undocumented workers both have full personal injury rights, and status stays private with my office.

Cases I take

• Suspended-scaffold failures on brownstone façade work
• Parapet collapse and falling brick above pedestrian sidewalks
• Ladder falls on interior rehab
• Falls through unprotected floor openings on NYCHA capital work
• Hoist and personnel-elevator failures on 125th Street tower work
• Trench and excavation collapses on Lenox and Frederick Douglass utility upgrades
• Electrocution from temporary site wiring
• Demolition injuries on commercial-strip teardowns along 125th

Talk to me

Call: 718-261-0546 Office: 102-11 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 Hablamos español. Bilingual concierge on staff.

Free consultation. I will call you back personally during business hours. See Prior Results for verified case outcomes including the $2 million Brooklyn DOE Labor Law § 240 settlement.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.