A collapsing floor injured two workers Monday at a midtown office building where falling exterior work killed a prominent architect in 2019.
The accident at 729 Seventh Avenue happened just before 10 a.m. During active demolition work on the 18th floor, part of the floor collapsed, sending two workers dropping to the 17th floor. They were taken to area hospitals; their conditions were not immediately clear.
Fire officials said there were no structural concerns.
The city's Department of Buildings said the two injured men were working on the restoration of the building's façade, but said the work they were doing exceeded the scope of the permits issued. The DOB issued a stop work order and issued violations to the contractors.
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That same façade was the cause of the Dec. 2019 tragedy that cut short the life of Erica Tishman, a prominent architect and vice president of a Midtown-based construction firm.
A piece of falling decorative terra cotta façade from 729 Seventh struck Tishman, 60, in the head and killed her. A Harvard and Princeton graduate and former chair of the nonprofit Educational Alliance, she was well known as a "stickler for building safety."
Last December, the NYC Department of Buildings filed Administrative Code charges in criminal court against 729 Acquisition LLC, the entity that owned 729 Seventh. The DOB alleged the owners failed to do required safety work; the owners had previously said the work was in progress at the time of the accident.
