NEW YORK, N.Y. – A rigger who worked on a construction crane that collapsed and killed seven people has been stripped of his licenses. An administrative judge says the rigger’s sloppy work was to blame for the collapse, despite his acquittal on all criminal charges.
The city Buildings Department said Thursday that William Rapetti’s license has been revoked. His lawyer says he’s disappointed and considering fighting it in court.
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The nearly 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) crane toppled onto a Manhattan block in March 2008.
Building officials, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and prosecutors attributed the collapse to the failure of four heavy-duty straps that Rapetti and his crew were using temporarily to fasten a steel collar around the crane.
Rapetti’s lawyers have pointed to other factors, including the crane’s design and bad welding in beams tethering it to the building.
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