Nonprofit Wants Queens Construction Worker's Death Investigated

JAMAICA, QUEENS -- After an Ecuadorian construction worker was crushed by a forklift on a worksite in Jamaica, the immigrant rights group to which he belongs wants answers as to what went wrong.

Edgar Pazmino's peers at New Immigrant Community Empowerment know the 34-year-old was killed on March 13 after the machinery he'd been operating pinned him against a wall of the high-rise luxury condo site near 89th Avenue and 150th Street.

What they don't understand is why Pazmino and his coworkers had even been allowed to work at the site, which was under a stop worker order after receiving a slew of safety violations from the city's Department of Buildings in the months before Pazmino was crushed.

On Thursday, the Jackson-Heights-based immigrant rights coalition demanded a full investigation into Pazmino's death on the job.

"Edgar's memory must be honored by ensuring this does not happen again," said Manuel Castro, executive director of NICE. "His death could have been avoided."

Castro added that after nearly 500 construction-related deaths in the past decade, the group believed New York wasn't doing enough to protect its workers.

NICE was joined by New York Senator Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), who called on his colleagues to pass a bill he co-sponsored called "Carlos' Law," which would increase higher fines and penalties to employers whose workers are hurt or killed because they ignored workplace safety protocols.

The legislation is named after Carlos Moncayo, another migrant worker who was killed in a construction site accident, Peralta said.

"Latino workers are disproportionately affected by accidents in the workplace that result in death or serious injuries," he said. "It is time to put an end to this."

Peralta said he was particularly troubled to find out the Jamaica construction site Pazmino had been working at was plagued with safety violations.

The troubles dated back to September, when the DOB issued a partial stop work order on the site after a worker fell from the building's eighth to seventh floor through a collapsed plywood opening, records show.

The department allowed the project to resume in October, but by December had issued a full stop work order on the site after receiving complaints that it was unsafe. On Dec. 28, work on the high-rise was ordered to a halt one last time before Pazmino was killed, according to DOB records.

The department issued another full stop work order the day of his death, citing an incident where "a forklift worker was killed."

As members of NICE push to find out who was responsible for putting Pazmino on the hazardous job, they mourn the loss of the Ecuadorian-immigrant-turned-Bronx-dweller that had become a part of their close-knit family.

"Our community is heartbroken by Edgar's death," Castro said. "He will be remembered for his sense of humor and eagerness to participate."

Lead photo via Google Maps.