Widow files $40 million notice of claim in Maybrook wall collapse

Published: 10:16 AM - 12/25/13 Last updated: 10:24 AM - 12/25/13

The widow of one of the two men killed when a retaining wall on a construction site in Maybrook collapsed Dec. 2 has filed a $40 million notice of claim against New York City and the citys Department of Environmental Protection.

The claim was filed on behalf of Doreen Winkler, whose husband, Scott Winkler, 50, died eight days after the collapse. A claim, which must be filed within 90 days, preserves the right to file a lawsuit later.

Winkler, of Monroe, was an employee of Precision Concrete Pumping of Albany. He was part of a crew working on a mockup of an aqueduct project for the DEP when a concrete retaining wall collapsed.

The accident happened on property off Homestead Avenue owned by one of the general contractors, Halmar International Inc.

One worker, Timothy Lang, 53, of Saugerties, also employed by Precision, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was trapped under the collapsed wall for a considerable amount of time.

Winkler and another injured worker, Rafael Zakota, 37, of the Glendale section of Queens, were rescued relatively quickly and taken to hospitals. Winkler was flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, while Zakota was taken to Orange Regional Medical Center in the Town of Wallkill.

In addition to his wife, Winkler is survived by five children.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident to determine whether any workplace safety standards were violated.

The mockup, or replica, was being built to practice techniques for work on a planned interconnection of the DEPs Catskill and Delaware aqueducts in Gardiner.

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Widow files $40 million notice of claim in Maybrook wall collapse