Freak accident in NYC kills former Philly woman

A woman who moved from Philadelphia to New York City eight months ago has died after she was struck by a wind blown sheet of plywood from a construction site in Greenwich Village.

Police said Tram Thuy Nguyen, 37, known to her friends as Tina, was fatally injured Tuesday night in front of 175 West 12th St., near where a condominium project is rising on the site of the former St. Vincent's Hospital.

The 4-foot by 8-foot section of plywood came from a security fence surrounding the project, police said.

Nguyen, a real estate agent who lived nearby on West 4th Street, moved from Philadelphia to Manhattan eight months ago to be with her fiance, the New York Times reported.

She was walking home and talking on her cellphone when the sheet of wood slammed into her about 5:50 p.m. and knocked her head into a wall, police said. She was pronounced dead at 9:12 p.m. at Bellevue Hospital.

The National Weather Service said winds in Central Park at the time were 13 m.p.h. with gusts of up to 38 m.p.h.

Records show that besides living in Philadelphia, Nguyen also had addresses in Warminster, Bucks County and Cherry Hill and Maple Shade in South Jersey.

In a statement issued through a friend to the New York Times, Nguyen's fiance, Alex Beitler, said they had been together for five years and planned to marry in July.

"The family and I have decided to bury her in Philadelphia," he said. "This is the most devastating loss."

The New York City Buildings Department has ordered a halt to work at the project.

Chris Morley, Nguyen's former supervisor at Bien Real Estate in New York, said that eight months ago she came by his office looking for a job. She had just gotten her real-estate license.

"The customers loved her," he said today. "She wanted to do a good job here."

Nguyen, who joined another firm recently, told people in the Bien office she was eager to get married and have children, Morley said. At Halloween, she tried to get everyone in the firm to wear costumes to greet neighborhood children. Dressed as the character Strawberry Shortcake, she eagerly gave out candy to the kids, he said.

Nguyen's Facebook page features a big "I Love NY" photo, a story on the best free museums for children and several articles about selling real estate.