Anthony Esposito fell 40 storeys on the site of the Silver Towers apartment scheme

A construction worker has been killed in a crane accident in New York, the third fatality this year.

Anthony Esposito, 48, reportedly lost his footing yesterday whilst on a 6m platform 40 storeys above the Manhattan streets, plunging 400 ft to his death.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was wearing a safety harness but it was not attached to anything. The accident happened during the construction of the 58-story tower at 600 West 42nd Street, between 11th and 12th Avenues. Developer Larry A. Silverstein is building the Silver Towers on the River, a 1,350-unit residential building scheduled to open next year.

The death follows two other fatal crane accidents in the city this year, which culminated in the city’s senior crane inspector being arrested in June this year for taking bribes from buildings firms. Seven people died and at least 17 were injured when a crane collapsed in February.

Another crane collapsed in June, killing two workers and leading to work being halted on five sites across the city as cranes were checked.

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