The sad, strange saga of Tony Franzese continues

[NYPD photo from 2012]

On Sept. 28, 2010, an air conditioner fell six stories and landed on the Winebar canopy on Second Avenue at Fourth Street before striking Tony Franzese on the sidewalk.

Franzese, who lived in the building and had been out walking his dog, was badly injured, and he later filed a $21 million liability lawsuit against the landlord ... and then he disappeared several months later.

As the Post reports today, a now-homeless Franzese has turned up again... and apparently doesn't want to pursue any legal matters ... much to the chagrin of his lawyer.

Franzese, 73, remains severely traumatized and is now insisting he wants nothing to do with the seven-figure negligence payout that would easily be his if he would just agree to come to court, his frustrated lawyer told The Post.

Instead, on Monday, the lawyer is going to Manhattan Supreme Court — alone, but on Franzese’s behalf — in hopes that he can convince a judge to compel the detective who found Franzese to bring him in off the streets.

Franzese is too mentally troubled to make decisions without a guardian or conservator, the lawyer argues.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former East Village resident injured by falling air conditioner remains missing

Report of a falling air conditioner on East 13th Street

Just watched a massive AC fall out of a window and nearly kill a guy. Fuck. @evgrieve

— David Fitzgerald (@david_fitz) May 18, 2014

he dodged it but it was a close call. @evgrieve

— David Fitzgerald (@david_fitz) May 18, 2014

And afterwards… no one was around to claim responsibility for it…



This occurred on East 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue … mid-block on the south side of the street…

Previously

This air conditioner fell from the Christodora House today

Dang. EVG regular Jose Garcia was on the scene on East Ninth Street just east of Avenue B around noon. "It came perilously close to hitting a pedestrian. Totally freaked everyone out."

According to Jose, it appears that the AC unit came from near the top of the building — roughly three floors down from the roof.

Previously

Former East Village resident injured by falling air conditioner remains missing

[Via EaterNY]

On Sept. 28, 2010, an air conditioner fell six stories and landed on the Winebar canopy on Second Avenue at Fourth Street.

Here's how the Post illustrated the accident:



According to published reports, the AC bounced off the canopy and hit 67-year-old Tony Franzese, who was walking his dog as he does every morning, in the head. He suffered severe head injuries, and the EMTs took him to Bellevue Hospital.

The Post reported that Franzese, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, had been evicted from his apartment... and was due to leave the building on Sept. 30.

And that's the last we heard of this accident. Until yesterday. The Post reported that Franzese had filed a $21 million lawsuit against the landlord. However, according to his attorney, Franzese vanished about a year ago.

It gets a little complicated. The NYPD brought in a "John Doe" to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital on Tuesday. An NYPD sergeant photographed the man and fingerprinted him for the Missing Persons Bureau. A few days later the officer saw the Post article about the missing man and realized that the patient at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt was Franzese. The NYPD returned to the hospital only to discover that officials had already released Franzese.

The officer who took his photo told the Post, "He's extremely incoherent. He couldn’t even say his name to me. He couldn’t formulate words." Apparently he "suffers from bi-polar disorder and serious brain injuries."

Here's the photo of Franzese from the hospital:

Per the Post: "But because authorities now have his fingerprints and have connected them to his identity, they hope Franzese will be found when he turns up at another hospital."

More photos of the near-miss air conditioner mishap yesterday outside Moonstruck Diner

Yesterday afternoon, we reported on that AC unit falling out of the window at Fifth Street and Second Avenue... and the unit landed on the Moonstruck Diner awning...

EV Grieve reader peter radley sent along these shots showing how the awning saved tge AC from hitting the sidewalk. Or someone's head. A Moonstruck miracle, really.

... and because we only recently discovered the arrow function ...

Previously.

Air conditioner falls out of window on Second Avenue

Around 1 p.m., we were walking south down Second Avenue, thinking about how many women wear football jerseys on Sundays when.... we heard a commotion! It sounded like an accident. Then we saw what had happened. An air conditioner fell out of a window from an apartment above the Moonstruck Diner at Fifth Street...

Thankfully, it landed on the Moonstruck awning...

Based on eyewitness accounts, we think this is what happened. Unscientifically...

This happened just one block to the north ... and almost one year to the date of another AC accident, though that one was far more serious.

Related reading at Runnin' Scared from July:
How Often Do Air Conditioners Fall Out of NYC Windows and Kill People?