Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A New York City architect died on Tuesday after being struck by a piece of falling debris on a city sidewalk.
Erica Tishman, 60, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:45 a.m. after being struck by a piece of debris that fell from a 17-story building north of Times Square, police said. No other people were injured in the incident.
An inspection by the Department of Buildings after the incident found cracks in the building's facade and terra cotta pieces missing. The department fined the building's owner Himmel + Meringoff Properties in April for a "failure to maintain exterior building facade," city records showed.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman said the company should have installed a sidewalk shed or scaffolding after being cited for the facade violation.
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"This is a tragedy that could have been averted if they had followed the law. I hope the landlord has the book thrown at him," Hoylman said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described Tishman's death as "horrible."
"My heart goes out to the family," he said. "We need to know how that happened. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Tishman was a vice president at project management firm Zubatkin Owner Representation and her office was a few blocks away from the scene of the incident.
She also previously was chair of the board of directors at Educational Alliance and served on the board of trustees at the Riverdale Country School and at Central Synagogue in Manhattan.
