A construction worker died Friday morning when an eight-story building collapsed during demolition to clear space for a luxury Midtown hotel, officials said.

Cops rescued a second worker trapped in
the basement by falling rubble four hours earlier after the eerily quiet collapse just north of the Empire State Building.

“It looks he has serious injuries, but he’s still conscious,” said a police source. The injured worker was rushed from the scene in an ambulance once first responders dug him out.


Another 17 members of the construction crew escaped from the falling building without injury around 10:30 a.m., according to the source.

The site at 25 W. 38th St. was slated to become home to a posh 27-story, 170-room boutique hotel.

Dozens of firefighters flooded the block between Fifth and Sixth Aves., and a doorman at a nearby building saw two cadaver dogs brought to what was left of the old tenement.
“I said, ‘Oh God, no. I hope nobody got really hurt,’” said doorman James Maldonado Jr., 63. “Now I know somebody did. It’s a shame. It’s very, very sad.”

The whole thing happened quickly — and silently.

“I didn’t hear a bang, I didn’t hear a boom,” said Maldonado. “I notice there people in construction uniforms running down the block very fast ... and I saw some dust flying.”

Workers in nearby buildings echoed Maldonado, saying there was no loud noise until the sirens of arriving firetrucks and ambulances filled the air.

The street was shut down to cars and pedestrians as rescue workers worked to free the trapped person. Maldonado confirmed the old tenement at the site was undergoing conversion into a luxury hotel.

MARCUS SANTOS
Emergency responders carry a stretcher on the scene of a building collapse.
The building’s owners had just switched demolition companies two weeks ago in a dispute over money.

The contractor working at the site received city approval in May for demolition of the building, and there were no recent work violations, according to Buildings Department records.

But Metro Industrial Wrecking pulled off the job in September over “a money issue type of thing,” said Robert Bankston of Metro.

The Huntington Station, L.I., company was replaced Oct. 16 on the demolition permit by Northeast Interiors of Maspeth, Queens. Northeast’s owner was at the collapse scene and unable to answer questions.