Worker Dies In 4-Story Fall After Mechanical Hoist Fails

A worker was killed Sunday when he fell four stories at the General Electric building in Rockefeller Center after a mechanical hoist collapsed.

The incident occurred about 9:10 a.m. as a team of workers was lifting supplies from the roof of a 6th floor setback to a 10th floor roof, police spokeswoman Betsy Herzog said.

One of the men fell from the upper to the lower roof, when the hoist, described as a “mini-crane,” collapsed on a lower-level roof of the skyscraper, she said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and his name was not immediately released because his survivors are in Poland and had not been notified.

The General Electric Building, the 70-story centerpiece of the Rockefeller Center complex, houses the offices and studios of NBC.

The incident occurred above an entrance for NBC and the famed Rainbow Room restaurant, and around the corner from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree currently being rigged with lights.