Now, she is searching for answers.<\/p>\n
![\"Vinny\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NHAR5FWMXFCCFOXVA42HXGD2XY.jpg\")
Fortunato was fatally injured on the job in Queens, his wife said.Courtesy of Erin PianforteThe fatal day<\/p>\n
According to Pianforte, who is pregnant with the couple\u2019s third child, Fortunato and a crew were unloading Masonite boards from a truck when several fell on top of him. <\/p>\n
\u201cVinny sustained a fatal frontal lobe injury,\u201d Pianforte, 37, told the Advance\/SILive.com. <\/p>\n
She noted how hard the father worked, \u201ctrying so hard to provide for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Vinny\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IIMIPLZNMNBUTLHJG2QDE32AGI.jpg\")
Fortunato was described as an easygoing and deeply caring partner who was completely devoted to his family.Courtesy of Erin Pianforte<\/p>\n
Fortunato had been searching for different employment in the months before his death, said Pianforte. On the morning of the accident, her husband had spoken to a friend about joining the local plumbers union.<\/p>\n
According to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Fortunato\u2019s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The office ruled the manner of death to be an accident.<\/p>\n
She said she is in the process of speaking with attorneys as she considers her options moving forward.<\/p>\n
The Advance\/SILive.com reached out to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which investigates workplace incidents, but did not receive comment by the time of publication.<\/p>\n
Family struggling with loss<\/p>\n
Born in Brooklyn, Fortunato settled on Staten Island in July after buying a house in Prince\u2019s Bay with Pianforte.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a brand new thing, our house was different for him because we have the pool and everything,\u201d Pianforte said. \u201cHe was taking care of everything and was very proud of it. It was something that he wanted to do for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunato was a devoted and playful father who enjoyed playing sports, swimming and spending quality time with their kids, 10-year-old Isabella and 5-year-old Shawn, said Pianforte. The couple was preparing to welcome a baby boy next April.<\/p>\n
The baby will be named Vincenzo Fortunato III, said Pianforte.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so happy. It was a surprise; he really wanted a boy and was overjoyed when we found out the gender,\u201d Pianforte recalled through tears. \u201cHe was already so excited about the baby that he had started buying things for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The children are now struggling with the unexpected loss of their dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy 5-year-old son says he misses him so much. He sees me cry and then will start to cry himself but tries to stop it,\u201d Pianforte said. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur daughter is sad but is going back to school. I plan to get her into therapy, as this is a profound loss for her. Every little thing he did with them was special because of how much they loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family and friends remembered Fortunato\u2019s kindness and sense of humor, which they say left a lasting impression on all who knew him, according to a Colonial Funeral Home obituary<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fortunato exuded warmth, and had a special ability to make people smile, said his widow. In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoyed listening to music, watching sports, collecting sneakers and playing video games.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just very easy and simple. He was different from anyone I had ever been with before. He just always made me feel like there was nothing I could do wrong; I had never felt perfect until I was with him,\u201d Pianforte said. \u201cAfter I became pregnant, he was even more attentive and wouldn\u2019t let me do anything. All he cared about was his family and making sure we were taken care of.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I could go back to when Vinny was here, I would just sit with him more and love him more,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019d stop worrying about making everything look so perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunato is survived by his wife, Erin; his children Isabella, Shawn; his mother, Calogera; and his brother, Giovanni. He was predeceased by his father, Vincenzo Fortunato Sr.<\/p>\n A GoFundMe page has been established<\/a>, with a goal of $45,000 to help to support the children\u2019s education and provide long-term stability.<\/p>\n Fortunato\u2019s visitation was held on Nov. 2, and his funeral Mass was held the following day at St. Charles R.C. Church in Oakwood.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Tuesday, Oct. 28, began like any other day for Prince\u2019s Bay resident Vincenzo Fortunato.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-42105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Vinny\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CJB4OQMG4RBK5IHGS6GDIG4OT4.jpg\")
Vincenzo ‘Vinny’ Fortunato (upper right) was a devoted and playful father, actively involved in playing sports, swimming, and spending quality time with his children 10-year-old Isabella (bottom) and 5-year-old Shawn (middle right), according to wife Erin Pianforte (middle left).Courtesy of Erin Pianforte<\/p>\n