Bronx

Worker Left Dangling from Building After Piece of Façade Crashes Into Bronx Scaffold

NBC Universal, Inc.

A chunk of façade fell 40 feet from the side of a building in the Bronx, slamming into a scaffold with two people on it — and leaving one dangling from rope, hanging on for dear life.

A construction crew was working on the nursing home in the Olinville neighborhood Monday afternoon, when the piece came crashing down, video obtained exclusively by NBC New York shows. Coworkers rushed to secure the scaffolding, as the worker was left clinging to rope four stories above the ground.

The worker could be seen on video doing everything possible to stay as stable as possible, trying to wrap a leg around another rope that was hanging close by. The worker was stuck in the precarious and dangerous position for about 20 minutes.

Fortunately the worker was able to be corralled and brought to safety with no serious injuries. Those who live nearby heard the crash of the falling façade, and some even witnessed as the worker held on for their life.

"Oh it was so crazy, we were so scared for him. We thought he was going to fall," said Hasel Paulino, who saw the events unfold outside her kitchen window, along with her husband and daughter Haley. "We wished we could have helped him because we were like, oh my God he's dangling from the freaking building."

Another neighbor's security camera captured the moment the piece of the building came crashing down through the scaffold and to the ground, making a sound that Paulino related to a car crash. The footage showed that just a few seconds before, another worker was walking in the area where the building chunk plummeted.

The Department of Buildings came to the scene afterward, stopping work immediately and issuing a safety violation.

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