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by MERLE ENGLISH, JOSEPH MALLIA AND PETE BOWLES
A worker was electrocuted yesterday while remodeling a glass-enclosed elevator at the Tower Mall in Forest Hills, authorities said.
Peter Fuchs, 43, of Lynbrook was installing a new ceiling dome on the elevator in the two-story mall at 70-09 Austin St. when he touched some uncovered electrical wires leading to the ceiling lights.
Police said a co-worker heard Fuchs yell and saw him fall from his ladder onto the floor of the elevator.
Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the city Buildings Department, said Fuchs was standing on a six-foot ladder with his head through the escape hatch in the roof "when he came into contact with bared 120 voltage wires. The voltage passed from one hand straight through to the other."
City elevator inspectors found no violations, Givner said.
"The elevator seemed fine, but we are issuing a cease-use order on the elevator," she said. "Our electrical unit is requiring the owner to hire a permitted electrician to do the follow up work."
Fuchs, the father of two boys, was an elevator remodeler for Elite Elevators in Garden City Park, where he worked for five years. The company's owner, Doug Gilman, said he had no details on what caused the accident.
Fuch's brother-in-law, Don Maiello, said Fuchs was a carpenter who specialized in renovating elevator interiors.
"You wouldn't assume it to be dangerous — it's carpentry," Maiello said. "How it happened we have no idea. We just know he took a jolt."
Sara Perez, the manager of Oz Boutique, one of several stores in the mall, said firefighters arrived shortly after the 12:34 p.m. incident and spent about an hour trying to revive Fuchs.
"At one point, when they first started CPR, they got him breathing again," Perez said. "They took him to the ambulance to try to revive him, but he went into shock again, and they weren't able to revive him. His partner looked in shock."
Fuchs was pronounced dead on arrival at Parkway Hospital.
Store operators said customers like to use the elevator because of its glass wall, which looks out onto Austin Street.
"This is the first time an accident has happened," said Perez, who has worked at the mall for six years. "A person got stuck two or three years ago, but they took him out right away. It's very sad. I'm afraid to get back on the elevator now."
Fuchs was born and raised in Rosedale and moved to Lynbrook nine years ago after he married the former Michelle Maiello. They have two sons, Andrew, 7, and Nicholas, 3.
"He left behind two beautiful boys," his brother-in-law said. "We're trying to make sense of it."
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