Gowanus Lounge: Serving Brooklyn

“The High Cost of Doing Business”: People Die Building Luxe Condos

November 20th, 2008 · No Comments

WNYC did some superb reports this week about construction and some of the conditions that have lead to the deaths of 27 workers so far this year. There are two stories in print that can be viewed here and here. Among the buildings covered is one on Clinton Avenue (being marketed as the Collection) where a worker was blown off the roof and died earlier this year. Brownstoner, which covered the death of the worker, did a post on the “Ghosts of 525 Clinton” yesterday. The worker’s name was Jose Palacios. He is one of thousands of immigrants who work dangerous construction jobs constructing luxe condos. Many of them have died terrible deaths in Brooklyn in recent years. Here’s a big about him from the WNYC report:

Jose Palacios lived with his niece, her husband and two children and helped pay the rent in this tidy apartment. He was also supporting a wife and daughter back in Mexico. And the night before he died the family had thrown a farewell party for the construction worker’s sister who would be returning to Mexico after a long stay. Solis says her mother left the next morning thinking everything was fine….

When we were up on that roof to shoot photos, it was hard not to think about what happened up there on that windy morning back in January. Here are the audio segments:

Tags: Clinton Hill · Construction Issues