Elevator Mechanic Electrocuted at 1290 Avenue of Americas, Dies

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An elevator mechanic working for the Schindler Elevator Corporation, a Switzerland-based elevator company, was electrocuted as he was working in a ninth-floor mechanical room inside 1290 Avenue of the Americas, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed this morning.

1290aveofamers Elevator Mechanic Electrocuted at 1290 Avenue of Americas, Dies
1290 Avenue of the Americas

The 43-story building houses the world headquarters of Cushman & Wakefield.

Ed Bradley, a 44-year-old mechanic from Staten Island, was found unconscious inside the mechanical room late Wednesday evening. Cops and paramedics responding to the scene declared him dead, the police spokesperson said.

Mr. Bradley’s was working inside the mechanical room when his arm came into contact with a wire in the vault transformer, DNA Info reported.

1290 Avenue of the Americas had a history of elevator violations, according to city Department of Buildings records. It was slapped with a violation in August 2010 for “having exposed wires in an electrical closet that was also cited for having no lighting,” according to DNA Info. 

The DOB has ordered the elevator, one of 45 in the building, shut.

Other firms in 1290 Avenue of the Americas include Warner Music Group, Morrison & Foerster, and AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.

The is the first highly publicized elevator fatality since Young & Rubican executive Suzanne Hart was trapped and crushed by an elevator in a freak accident at 285 Madison Avenue last year. An investigation conducted by the DOB and the city Department of Buildings found that Transel Elevator, Inc., the company hired to maintain the elevators, failed to repair the elevator up to city standards.

drosen@observer.com