A construction worker took a fatal plunge Friday from an NYU-owned building in Greenwich Village, police said.
The unidentified man in his 40s slipped and dropped 40 feet from scaffolding on the sixth floor of 19 University Pl., smashing onto an adjacent rooftop, according to police sources. The employee of D.P. Consulting Corp., who was contracted to work on the façade at the school’s Language and Literature Building, was discovered next door on the roof of 269 Greene St., which is next to NYU’s Iris & B Gerald Cantor Film Center.
“I saw the whole thing go and I saw the man go,” said witness Theresa Pierce, who was visiting her daughter in Greenwich Village. “I felt terrible, I felt helpless.”
The construction worker was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
In a statement, NYU said it shut down the construction site and halted all façade work to “ensure that our contractors are in compliance with safety.”
NYU spokesperson Philip Lentz said that “NYU prides itself on its excellent safety record and will cooperate with any government investigation of this tragic incident.”
According to the university’s Web site, repairs should have been completed by Oct. 1, but were extended through December.