Aging Pittsburgh Windows Pose Serious Threat

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - When Michael Racky leaned up against a storefront window, shards of glass cut him like a knife -- killing the 52-year-old father of four.

"And I have to wake up every day realizing I'll never see him again," says Racky's daughter, Meghan.

That storefront window was broken and held together with just tape.

"Packing tape is not an answer for compromised glass," says Tom Paris, the Racky family attorney.

Mark Meshulam is a glass safety expert who says dangerous glass is all around us, but many people don't know or even consider the danger of leaning up against a window.

"Don't lean against glass, it's that simple," warns Meshulam.

But that's not all. Meshulam says taller, older buildings, like many of those in Pittsburgh, can have weathered glass that can be a danger to those walking below.

"Really any building that gets to the 20-year mark, it's time for building owners to start thinking about it and be vigilant that glass may be reaching its age limit," says Meshulam.

And cracked glass several stories up -- can be unpredictable.

"The pain was unbelievable," recalls Maria Elena Gonzalez. She was hit by falling glass that came from a broken window in an apartment building.

During a walking tour of Downtown Pittsburgh, Meshulam found several broken windows on buildings belonging to the city and Allegheny County.

He deemed six windows at the City-County Building to be dangerous.

"I think if there's enough wind and just right rattling that one piece could break free and it could take flight," says Meshulam while pointing out a broken piece of glass on the floor level of the building.

Think it can't happen? A few years ago, glass from a window on the eighth floor of the City-County Building came raining down onto Grant Street. No one was injured.

But, when a broken piece of glass will fall is anybody's guess.

"It could happen anytime. It's not predictable."

KDKA-TV contacted the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials about the broken windows. A city spokesperson said, "city buildings are in dire need of upgrades" and there is only one person in the city who fixes all of the broken windows.

A county spokesperson thanked KDKA-TV for bringing the broken windows to their attention. The windows in the courthouse are in an unused part of the building. The courthouse was built in the 1800s and replacement glass needs to be specially-ordered.

Officials now say the broken window pointed out in this report at the Allegheny County Courthouse has been fixed. County officials say they have spent $12,000 over the past two years fixing windows.

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