Getting hurt on a Manhattan job site can take away your paycheck and peace of mind in an instant. At Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP, our Manhattan construction accident lawyers hold property owners and contractors responsible under New York Labor Law when an unsafe work site causes an injury.
We represent workers hurt on sites from the Financial District through Midtown to Inwood, and we focus on third-party claims against the property owner, general contractor, and other companies that controlled the site. That claim can recover what workers' compensation never will, including pain and suffering and the full value of lost earnings.
Our office is in the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway. If you or someone in your family was hurt on a Manhattan site, call 212-406-1700 for a free consultation; we answer 24/7.
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Table of contents
- What Construction Accidents Do We Handle in Manhattan?
- How New York Labor Law Protects Workers on Manhattan Job Sites
- New York City Safety Rules That Can Strengthen a Manhattan Case
- What Evidence Matters After a Manhattan Construction Accident?
- Which Companies Can Be Liable on a Manhattan Project?
- What Workers' Compensation Leaves Out for Manhattan Workers
- Manhattan Construction Injury Deadlines at a Glance
- Where Are Manhattan Construction Injury Lawsuits Filed?
- Damages Available in a Manhattan Construction Injury Case
- Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP: A Construction Practice in Lower Manhattan
- FAQs: Manhattan Construction Accident Lawyer
- Speak With a Manhattan Construction Accident Lawyer
What Construction Accidents Do We Handle in Manhattan?
We represent workers across the building trades, including laborers, carpenters, ironworkers, electricians, window installers, and demolition crews. Common Manhattan cases include:
- Scaffold falls, including suspended and pipe scaffolds on facade projects
- Ladder accidents during interior renovation and fit-out work
- Crane and hoist accidents involving dropped loads or rigging failures
- Falling object injuries from tools, materials, and debris dropped from upper floors
- Electrocution injuries from live circuits in occupied buildings
- Roofing accidents on setbacks, bulkheads, and parapets
- Forklift and heavy equipment accidents at staging areas and loading docks
Many of these accidents involve common Manhattan construction site hazards that more than one section of the Labor Law covers, so the details of how you were hurt shape the claim from day one.
How New York Labor Law Protects Workers on Manhattan Job Sites
New York places the duty to keep construction sites safe on the owners and contractors who profit from the work, not on the workers doing it. Our New York construction accident practice centers on three statutes.
The Scaffold Law and Gravity-Related Accidents
Labor Law 240(1), the Scaffold Law, covers gravity-related accidents: a worker who falls from a height or is struck by an object that falls because it was not properly secured. Under Section 240(1), owners and contractors must supply adequate scaffolds, hoists, harnesses, and similar devices.
If that protection failed and caused the injury, they are liable even if they never set foot on the site. The worker's own carelessness does not reduce the award, and it defeats the claim only if it was the sole cause of the accident.
Industrial Code and General-Duty Claims
Labor Law 241(6) covers the rest of the site. Section 241(6) requires construction, excavation, and demolition areas to be reasonably safe, and the state Industrial Code enforces this through specific rules known as Rule 23.
Missing guardrails, slippery floors, unguarded saws, and exposed wiring can all support a claim, but only if the accident violated an Industrial Code rule that spells out a concrete safety measure. In May 2026, the New York Court of Appeals held in Mann v. Mezuyon that a rule describing a general hazard, without commanding a specific precaution, cannot support a Section 241(6) claim.
Our lawyers handle Labor Law 240 and 241(6) claims side by side, because many Manhattan accidents qualify under both.
Labor Law 200 codifies the general duty to provide a safe workplace. Section 200 usually requires proof that the owner or contractor controlled the unsafe work or knew about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it.
New York City Safety Rules That Can Strengthen a Manhattan Case
Manhattan construction is also governed by city law, and those records often show who was in charge of a site and what they were required to do.
- The NYC Building Code. Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code sets safeguards for construction and demolition, including site safety plans, sidewalk sheds, and floor-edge protection.
- Site safety training. Under Local Law 196 of 2017, workers on sites that require a construction superintendent, site safety coordinator, or site safety manager must complete 40 hours of site safety training.
- Department of Buildings (DOB) records. Permits, violations, complaints, stop-work orders, and incident reports filed with the DOB can document a history of unsafe conditions.
A city code violation does not replace a state Labor Law claim, but it can be powerful evidence of who controlled the site and whether required protections were in place.
What Evidence Matters After a Manhattan Construction Accident?
The evidence that matters most after a Manhattan construction accident shows what the site looked like, who controlled it, and how you were hurt. Much of it disappears within days, as floors get cleaned, scaffold planks get swapped, and equipment moves to the next job. Key evidence includes:
- Photos and video of the accident scene, the equipment, and your injuries
- Footage from site cameras, crane cameras, and security cameras on neighboring buildings, which may be recorded over quickly
- Incident reports, daily logs, and the site safety plan kept by the general contractor
- Hoist, crane, and scaffold inspection records
- Contracts showing which companies controlled the work and who agreed to insure whom
- Names and phone numbers of coworkers who saw the accident
- Medical records that connect your injuries to the accident
We send preservation letters early so the owner and contractors are on notice to keep this material.
Which Companies Can Be Liable on a Manhattan Project?
Responsibility on a Manhattan project is usually spread across several companies:
- Property owners, including developers, commercial landlords, and building owners hiring renovation crews
- General contractors and construction managers who run the site
- Subcontractors, other than your own employer, whose work created the hazard
- Crane, hoist, and scaffold companies that erected or maintained equipment
- Public owners, such as the City of New York and public authorities, on public projects
Claims against public owners move on a much faster clock, starting with a notice of claim that is usually due within 90 days under Section 50-e of the General Municipal Law. The Labor Law's exemption for owners of one- and two-family homes who hire out the work but do not direct or control it comes up less often in Manhattan, where most projects involve larger buildings.
What Workers' Compensation Leaves Out for Manhattan Workers
Workers' compensation covers medical treatment and part of your lost wages, but it pays nothing for pain and suffering and rarely replaces a full paycheck. In exchange for those no-fault benefits, you generally cannot sue your own employer, and Section 29(6) of the Workers' Compensation Law shields coworkers as well.
The owner, general contractor, and other subcontractors are different. You can pursue a third-party claim against them while you receive compensation benefits, and the compensation carrier is reimbursed from the recovery through a lien. We build the third-party lawsuit for Manhattan construction workers.
Why Your Employer Usually Stays Out of the Lawsuit
Defendants in a third-party case often try to shift part of the cost to your employer. Section 11 of the Workers' Compensation Law blocks that unless your employer agreed in a written contract before the accident to cover the claim, or you suffered a grave injury.
Grave injuries are a short list written into the statute, such as death, paraplegia or quadriplegia, total and permanent blindness, and certain amputations and permanent brain injuries. The rule does not limit your right to sue the owner or contractor; it only affects which defendants pay.
Manhattan Construction Injury Deadlines at a Glance
Most Manhattan construction injury lawsuits must be filed within three years, but a project owned by the City or the transit system can require a notice of claim within 90 days. The table below sorts the deadlines by who owned or ran the site:
| Who owned or ran the site | Deadlines | Governing law |
| A private owner, developer, general contractor, or subcontractor | No advance notice; lawsuit within three years of the accident | Section 214 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) |
| The City of New York | Notice of claim within 90 days; lawsuit within one year and 90 days | General Municipal Law Sections 50-e and 50-i |
| New York City Transit, such as subway station work | Notice of claim within 90 days; lawsuit within one year and 90 days | Public Authorities Law Section 1212 |
| Any owner, when the worker died | Wrongful death lawsuit within two years of the death | Section 5-4.1 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law |
Exceptions and tolling rules can change these deadlines, so it is safest to confirm yours as soon as possible.
Where Are Manhattan Construction Injury Lawsuits Filed?
Serious Manhattan construction cases are usually filed in the New York County Supreme Court, whose civil courthouse at 60 Centre Street is a short walk from our office.
Appeals and Venue Outside New York County
Appeals go to the Appellate Division, First Department. Depending on where the parties reside, a case may also be venued in another county, and that choice can affect how the case is valued.
Damages Available in a Manhattan Construction Injury Case
A third-party claim can recover past and future medical costs, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Your spouse may have a separate claim for loss of services, and families who lose a loved one can pursue wrongful death damages.
When Comparative Negligence Reduces a Recovery
New York generally follows pure comparative negligence. Under CPLR 1411, a worker's share of fault reduces the damages on a Section 241(6) or Section 200 claim but does not bar them, while a Section 240(1) claim generally avoids that reduction.
That difference is why the choice of Labor Law claims matters so much. If a jury values a claim at $1.2 million and finds the worker 10 percent at fault, a recovery under Section 241(6) alone drops to $1.08 million, but a successful Section 240(1) claim generally keeps the full $1.2 million. Results depend on the facts of each case, and no outcome can be promised.
Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP: A Construction Practice in Lower Manhattan
Injured workers who call us get a team built around New York construction claims:
- Construction is our core practice. We build every case around the specific Labor Law and Industrial Code violations that fit the accident.
- Our attorneys have recovered over $1 billion for injured clients.
- Spanish-language intake for clients who prefer to explain what happened in Spanish.
- Manhattan-based. Our only office is in the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan, near the courts where these cases are heard.
- Free consultations, available 24/7.
From the first call, we focus on the companies that controlled the site, not your employer. That means requesting site records early, identifying every contractor on the job, and coordinating the lawsuit with your compensation benefits so we account for the lien before any settlement.
If you are not sure whether your accident qualifies under the Labor Law, call 212-406-1700 for a free review of the facts.
FAQs: Manhattan Construction Accident Lawyer
These are questions injured Manhattan workers often ask before hiring a lawyer.
Who pays my medical bills after a Manhattan construction accident?
In New York, your employer's workers' compensation carrier generally pays for medical treatment of an on-the-job construction injury, regardless of who was at fault. Section 13 of the Workers' Compensation Law requires the employer to provide that care, and providers are paid at rates set by a state fee schedule. Tell every Manhattan doctor and hospital you visited that you were hurt at work so the bills go to the comp carrier.
The contractor says I should have been wearing a harness. Do I still have a case?
Often, yes. Under New York Labor Law 240(1), blaming a worker for not wearing a harness defeats the claim only in narrow circumstances. The defense generally must show that an adequate harness or other safety device was actually available, that you knew you were expected to use it, that you chose not to for no good reason, and that you would not have been hurt if you had.
Missing anchor points, the wrong size harness, or no instruction to tie off can all undercut that defense.
Can I sue if debris from a Manhattan construction site hit me while I was walking by?
Yes, but the claim usually rests on ordinary negligence rather than the Labor Law. New York Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6) protect people working on the project, so a pedestrian struck by falling debris generally brings a negligence claim against the owner and contractors. Missing sidewalk sheds, netting, or other public protections required by the NYC Building Code can be strong evidence, and you may need to file a notice of claim within 90 days if the City owned the project.
How much is my Manhattan construction accident case worth?
The value of a Manhattan construction accident case depends on how severe and permanent the injury is, how much income you have lost and will lose, the strength of the Labor Law claim, and the insurance available to pay it. New York does not cap pain and suffering damages in construction injury cases, so a careful review of the medical and earnings evidence matters more than any average figure.
Does the Labor Law cover renovation work inside a Manhattan apartment or office?
Usually, yes. New York Labor Law 240(1) covers altering a building, not just new construction, so gut renovations, office build-outs, and facade repairs can qualify, while routine maintenance generally does not. The owner of a larger apartment or office building cannot use the exemption for one- and two-family homes, and a tenant that hired the contractor may also be treated as an owner.
Speak With a Manhattan Construction Accident Lawyer
If you were hurt on a Manhattan construction site, call Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP at 212-406-1700 for a free consultation, any hour of the day. You can also visit us at the Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway #2020, New York, NY 10279.
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The outcome of every case depends on its specific facts. This page provides general information and is not legal advice.