As the investigation into Wednesday morning's crane collapse in Manhattan continues, records on the companies involved in the construction site show a number safety violations and even link one to a deadly collapse many years earlier.
The company which owns the crane, New York Crane, is the same one involved in the deadly crane collapse on the Upper East Side nearly 15 years ago.
James Lomma, now deceased, was the owner of the infamous crane that collapsed in 2008 responsible for killing two workers that resulted in a legal saga spanning a decade.
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WATCH HERE"It was the longest civil trial in New York State's history," said Bernadette Panzella, the plaintiff's attorney in the 2008 trial.
Panzella was the attorney who represented the family of Donald Leo, the crane operator who died in that tragedy. Although Lomma and his companies were found not guilty in a criminal case, a civil jury ordered Lomma to pay millions in damages for failure to properly repair the rig.
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SIGN UP "The people that are making all that money on all these building projects have to put safety first," Panzella said.
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In Wednesday's fiery collapse that left 11 people injured, including two firefighters, the city's Department of Buildings commissioner said a Westchester company called Cross Country Construction was operating the crane. The general contractor in charge of the construction site was Monadnock.
Cranes like the one now resting on the ground of 10th Avenue are often rented out to general contractors, who hired operators who are licensed to maneuver the massive machines.
The News 4 I-Team examined violation histories for those companies dating back to 2016. Two OSHA violations have been issued against the general contractor related to fall protection and hazardous use of equipment, and the crane operator had one related to electrical hazards.
In a statement, the general contractor said safety was the company's top priority on all of its construction sites. The operator, meanwhile, did not return a request for comment.
"The folks who are involved in the crane operation, the general contractor of the project, we're looking at all, as I'm sure you will be, we're looking at all of their histories to see what those stories are," Commissioner James Oddo said.
New York Crane, Lomma's company, also did not respond to requests from News 4.
Panzella said the results of the 2008 lawsuit were mixed. On one hand, putting contractors on notice there could be punitive damages for crane mishaps, but she also said they way cranes are inspected remains inadequate.
“The DOB does not have enough inspectors. So in a sense, this is an industry that very dangerously is left to self regulate," she said.
The department said inspectors had been to the construction site three time since the beginning of June: once when the height of the crane was increased, once during an unannounced inspection sweep of tower cranes across the city, and 16 days ago during a routine inspection.
