A construction worker is dead after falling several stories from a Midtown work site.
Police say 59-year-old Jose Cruz was trying to move a steel deck on the second floor of a site on Broadway near West 49th Street when he fell 18 feet, suffering severe head trauma.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.
City officials have issued a stop work order, and Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler has promised to do a thorough investigation.
"I am so sorry that he's not going home. It's a tragedy," Chandler said. "It's rather upsetting to see the kind of chances that these contractors are taking. They're putting their workers at risk, and it's just not acceptable."
Cruz's distraught sister Adia told NY1 she's going to file a lawsuit.
"This is disgusting. My father died like that. My man dies in an accident. And now my brother dies in an accident. I cannot even remember. I can only remember him as a good, you know, more than a brother," Adia Cruz said. "He's crazy for me. I'm crazy for him, too. He's my blood."
Officials say Cruz was wearing safety gear but did not have it fastened.
Streamline USA Construction is listed as the site contractor.