Whether a load falls, a crane tips, or equipment strikes someone on the ground, the consequences of a construction accident often include extensive medical treatment, lost income, and an uncertain future. A Bronx crane accident lawyer helps uncover what went wrong and who should be held responsible.
Most crane accidents involve more than one company. The crane owner, operator, rigging crew, equipment supplier, and general contractor may all play a role in how the accident happened. Early investigation matters because critical evidence often disappears as work resumes and equipment is repaired or moved.
Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. moves quickly to preserve evidence, identify responsible parties, and protect your legal options. Call (212) 543-1600 or contact us online for a free case review.
Why Trust Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. With Your Bronx Crane Accident Claim
Our team represents injured clients from the high-rise corridors along the Grand Concourse to job sites near Yankee Stadium and the Cross Bronx Expressway. We pair that local knowledge with more than 100 years of combined experience and over $300 million collected for our clients.
Local Bronx Roots
We know the streets where these accidents happen, from the busy stretches near Fordham Road to the developments rising in Mott Haven and Hunts Point. That familiarity helps us gather reports, witnesses, and site records faster.
No Fee Unless We Win
We work on a contingency fee, so you owe us nothing up front and nothing unless we recover money for you. This lets you focus on healing while we handle the costs of building your case.
Honest, Direct Communication
You’ll speak with a real attorney, not just a screener. We explain each step in plain language so you always know where your claim stands. Reaching out to our team early lays a strong foundation for your claim for compensation.
Call (212) 543-1600 today, or send us a message through our online contact form to start protecting your case.
Joseph Maggiano is an excellent person to seek when you have any type of legal issue. He is attentive, knowledgeable and takes his time to explain the process. He is such a nice and pleasant person to deal with. I highly recommend him and his law office for your legal advice!
Excellent law firm. Thorough, attentive, discreet, flexible, loyal, and compassionate. They are excellent at representing their clients, listening to them, and fighting for their rights. I had the pleasure of working with Michael Maggiano, Esq., Joseph Maggiano, Lawyer Tom Boyle, Bernadette, and Stephanie. Thank you all for your dedication and hard work. I highly recommend choosing this firm to represent you.
Choosing Michael Maggiano and his firm was the best decision my husband and I made at a most horrific time in our lives. Multiple doctors, with whom we had trusting relationships, were confidently telling me that nothing was wrong when, in fact, that was not the case; allowing a cancer to grow over several years to an advanced stage.
Michael Maggiano and his incredible colleagues took our case, even though extremely complex. They patiently answered our endless questions, diligently pursued every aspect of our case, handled our anxieties; especially during trial preparation and settlement discussions. Due to their experience and skill, the final outcome was a sizable settlement.
We hope that this message helps you make the right decision during what is probably a difficult and trying time by speaking with Mike Maggiano.
What Should You Do After Receiving Medical Care for a Crane Injury?
After you get medical care, your next job is to protect the value of your claim before the other side starts shaping the story: Follow your full treatment plan, keep every record, and avoid giving a recorded statement to any insurer until you have spoken with an attorney.
These early choices often decide how much you can recover later. Insurance companies move quickly after a crane accident, and their early friendliness usually serves their goals. An adjuster may ask for a recorded statement, push a fast, lowball offer, or hint that your own actions caused the injury.
To protect your claim after treatment, focus on these steps:
- Follow Your Treatment Plan: Attend every appointment, because gaps in medical care let insurers argue that you’ve healed and don’t need further compensation.
- Keep Every Record: Save bills, pay stubs, and discharge papers, because these documents anchor your economic damages.
- Stay Off Social Media: Avoid posting about your activities. Defense teams use photos to dispute the severity of your injury.
- Decline Recorded Statements: Refer all insurer calls to your attorney to protect yourself from questions built to reduce your payout.
- Get Legal Help: A Bronx crane accident lawyer can protect your rights and build a strong claim for compensation.
How Do Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Liability Work Together?
Workers’ compensation and third-party liability claims can exist at the same time, with each covering different aspects of the same crane accident. Workers’ comp pays medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of fault, while a third-party claim seeks compensation from outside companies whose negligence contributed to the injury.
Workers’ compensation comes with a trade-off: It pays you without a fight over who’s at fault, but it bars you from suing your direct employer and caps what you can collect. It doesn’t pay for pain, for the limits on your daily life, or for the full value of lost earning capacity.
A third-party liability claim fills that gap by reaching the parties that workers’ comp leaves untouched. On a crane job, that might be the equipment lessor, the rigging contractor, or the general contractor running the site.
| What You Can Recover | Workers’ Compensation | Third-Party Liability Claim |
| Medical bills | Yes | Yes |
| Lost wages | Partial share | Full amount |
| Lost earning capacity | Capped | Full amount |
| Pain and non-economic damages | No | Yes |
| Who you file against | Your direct employer | Outside companies at fault |
| Fault required | No | Yes |
One issue many workers don’t anticipate is the workers’ compensation lien. If you recover compensation from a third party, the workers’ compensation insurer may seek reimbursement for benefits it paid. An attorney can address these lien issues and work to maximize your net recovery.
What Makes Bronx Crane Accidents Different From Other Job Site Injuries?
Bronx crane accidents are different because New York Labor Law § 240, often called the Scaffold Law, gives certain elevation-related construction injuries a powerful form of absolute liability.
When a worker falls from a height or a crane load falls because proper safety devices were missing or inadequate, owners and contractors may be held responsible without the worker proving ordinary negligence.
These cases often unfold in the borough’s densest corridors, where tower cranes rise over tight lots in Port Morris and near the Major Deegan Expressway. Crane failures tend to follow a handful of patterns, and each one points to a different responsible party.
New York City’s deadliest crane disasters show how liability reaches past the employer. In the March 2008 East 51st Street tower-crane collapse, which killed seven people, an overloaded set of slings failed during a jumping operation, and the injured parties brought claims against the site owner, the construction manager, and the subcontractor whose employee ran the crane.
In the related East 91st Street case, a court even allowed the crane company’s owner to be held personally liable. These cases underscore why naming every responsible party, not just your employer, can decide what you recover.
Common crane failure modes include:
- Tip-Overs: A crane can topple when riggers misjudge the load weight or set up on unstable ground, often crushing workers nearby.
- Boom Collapses: A boom can buckle or break apart when a company skips inspections or overloads the machine past its rated limit.
- Dropped Loads: A load can fall when rigging hardware fails or an operator loses control, striking workers far below.
- Electrocution: A boom or cable can contact a power line, sending current through anyone touching the load or the machine.
Proving Fault After a Bronx Crane Accident
You prove fault by tracing the chain of decisions that led to the failure and matching each one to a responsible company. A crane accident usually involves several parties, and your attorney pursues a third-party liability claim against whichever ones breached their duty on the site. This is what separates a full recovery from a limited Workers’ Compensation payout.
The investigation starts with evidence that fades fast. Site logs, inspection records, the crane’s maintenance history, operator certifications, and New York City Department of Buildings permitting and rigging records can all tell part of the story.
Crane operations in New York City must comply with detailed requirements enforced by the Department of Buildings, and violations may provide evidence when investigators reconstruct what went wrong.
Who Can Be Held Responsible Beyond Your Employer?
The crane company, equipment owner, rigging contractor, general contractor, property owner, and other third parties may be held responsible when their negligence contributed to the accident.
Workers’ compensation generally prevents lawsuits against your direct employer, but it doesn’t protect outside companies whose actions helped cause the injury.
Construction sites in the Bronx often involve several businesses working together, and a single crane accident may trigger claims against multiple parties.
Depending on the facts, responsible parties may include:
- General Contractors: General contractors may face liability when unsafe site conditions, poor supervision, or safety violations contribute to a crane accident.
- Crane Companies: A crane company may be responsible for negligent operation, inadequate training, or failure to follow proper lifting procedures.
- Equipment Owners and Lessors: Companies that own or lease cranes may face liability when poor maintenance or defective equipment contributes to a failure.
- Rigging Contractors: Rigging contractors may be responsible when improperly secured loads, faulty rigging practices, or lifting errors lead to an accident.
- Property Owners: Property owners may face liability when elevation-related hazards contribute to a worker’s injury.
- Manufacturers: Equipment manufacturers may be responsible when a defective crane component, control system, or safety device contributes to the accident.
Untangling these relationships can be difficult because contracts, insurance agreements, and indemnity provisions often shift responsibility between companies.
Our Bronx construction accident attorneys investigate every layer of the project to identify the correct defendants before critical deadlines expire.
How a Bronx Crane Accident Lawyer Strengthens Your Claim
A Bronx crane accident lawyer strengthens your claim by securing evidence early, naming every liable party, and keeping the insurers from shaping the story. Your attorney’s first job is protecting proof before it disappears.
We’ll send preservation letters for the crane logs, maintenance records, and rigging hardware, then lock in witness accounts while memories are fresh. These steps lay the foundation for a third-party liability claim.
From there, your attorney manages the pressure points that trip up unrepresented workers. Our team fields the calls from the insurance adjuster, blocks recorded statements, and pushes back on arguments meant to pin blame on you.
We recently recovered $1.1 million for a construction worker who suffered a serious knee injury in a job-site accident that required multiple surgeries and affected her ability to perform key aspects of her work.
Verdicts and Settlements
$1,061,392 - Tow Truck Crash
A 42-year old truck operator and auto mechanic suffered ulnar neuropathy, bulging lumbar disc, torn meniscus right knee, and post traumatic stress disorder when he was struck by a tow truck backing up during a job thereby ending his two occupational careers.
$425,000 - Fall From Ladder
Settlement under the New York Labor Law for a fall from a ladder by worker who suffered severe back injury.
$1,725,000 - Grease on Supermarket Floor
A 47-year-old woman slipped on a quarter-size droplet of chicken grease in the aisle of a supermarket. Our client suffered injury to her knee and ankle. Ultimately, over the course of 4 years, she required surgery to her ankle, lower back, and neck. The grocery store contested both liability for and causation of our client’s injuries. Our attorneys argued that the store should have known it was…
FAQ for Bronx Crane Accident Lawyer
Can I Sue if I Already Filed a Workers' Compensation Claim?
You can often pursue a separate lawsuit against a third party even after you file for workers’ compensation. Workers’ comp covers your employer, but a crane company, operator, or contractor may still owe you for their negligence. An attorney can coordinate both claims for you.
How Long Do I Have To File a Crane Accident Claim in New York?
Most New York crane accident lawsuits must be filed within three years of the injury. Claims against public entities often require a Notice of Claim within a much shorter timeframe. Missing these deadlines can permanently bar your right to recover compensation.
What Is Third-Party Liability in a Bronx Construction Crane Case?
Third-party liability means a company other than your employer caused or contributed to your injury and can be sued directly. On a crane job, that party might be the equipment lessor, the rigging crew, or the general contractor. This claim lets you seek damages that workers’ compensation doesn’t pay.
What Does a Bronx Crane Accident Lawyer Actually Do for an Injured Worker?
A Bronx crane accident lawyer identifies every liable party and, when the facts allow, pursues a third-party claim beyond your workers’ compensation benefits. We’ll preserve evidence, manage the insurers, and handle settlement negotiations so you can focus on your recovery.
What Evidence Helps Prove a Crane Accident Claim?
Inspection logs, maintenance records, operator certifications, witness accounts, and the rigging hardware itself all help prove a crane accident claim. Your attorney moves fast to preserve these items before a company can lose or alter them. Early medical records also tie your injuries directly to the event.
Take the First Step Toward Compensation
A crane injury can change your finances overnight, but you don’t have to face the companies and their insurers alone. The sooner an attorney secures the evidence and names the right defendants, the stronger your claim becomes.
Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. is ready to review your case and protect your position today. Call (212) 543-1600, use our online contact form, or visit our Bronx office at 930 Grand Concourse, Suite 1A, Bronx, NY 10451 to get started.
Bronx Office
Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C.
930 Grand Concourse, Suite 1A
Bronx, NY 10451
Phone: (212) 543-1600
