A piece of plywood blown away from a Greenwich Village construction site struck and killed a 37-year-old woman Tuesday who was walking on a sidewalk nearby.
Wind blew the plywood off a security fence and across the street, where Trang-Thuy Nguyen was walking and using her cell phone,
WABC-TV reported. She was struck and hit her head on the wall of a parking garage.
She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital Center.
The plywood came from a construction site where St. Vincent's Hospital is being converted into high-end condos.
Nguyen was engaged and starting a career in real estate, WABC-TV reported.
Turner Construction Company said in a statement that it is investigating the incident and cooperating with other agencies in their investigations.
Wind gusts at the time of the accident reached 38 mph, the New York Daily News reported.
The project was the subject of 11 serious code violations since 2012, including complaints about falling debris and unsafe scaffolding, the Daily News said. A partial stop work order was issued last October and lifted Nov. 17.
Workers at the site said the
project has been halted indefinitely, The New York Times reported. Rudin Management Company and Global Holdings are the developers.
“What happened is tragic and devastating. We extend our deepest condolences to the family,” Rudin Management executives Bill and Eric Rudin said in a statement.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman
issued a statement saying he was “angry and sickened” by the tragedy.
“The proximity of this construction site to 800 elementary students at a local public school on the block and thousands of residents and workers in the area makes this a matter of the utmost importance,” he said.