The victim, identified as Anthony Esposito, was working to dismantle a crane at a skyscraper under construction at West 42nd Street and 11th Avenue at around 9 a.m. when he fell.

The 57-story luxury apartment building, which is scheduled to be opened in 2009, will be the sister building to One River Place and is owned by developer Larry Silverstein, the developer of the World Trade Center.

According to officials at the scene, there was no structural problem with the crane. The mayor says Esposito was wearing a construction harness but that it wasn't connected to anything when the platform he was on tilted.

"It's always safety first, just like we do driving the bus, and as time goes on you find out people get lax on safety and then it's too late when it does happen," said a worker.

"You gotta be more careful, you gotta be more safe, you gotta watch what you're doing, watch everything, watch people above you," added another.

Gotham Construction Company issued a statement saying its thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family and that it's fully cooperating with authorities to determine the exact cause of the accident.

A stop-work order has been issued and the Department of Buildings is looking into whether the equipment was being properly used.

The DOB has also issued four violations to the company, including two for excessive debris, one for not having guard rails on the roof and another because officials say the company did not have a permit for some of its scaffolding.

A stop work order has been issued at the site.

The company is only being allowed to secure the site prior to this weekend's nasty weather.

More than 20 people have died in New York City construction
accidents this year, including nine in two crane collapses. A
window worker died last week after falling 12 stories from a
Manhattan building.