Although the two only met in July working at the American Dream mega mall, they acted like they’d known each other for years.

Eric Papenfuhs took Danny Bittencourt under his wing as a mentor while they worked on floor coating and waterproofing in the amusement park section of the mall project in East Rutherford.

Papenfuhs was a fifth-generation construction worker and had been around job sites his whole life.

“He was the best man ever and he helped me learn so much. I’m usually a bridge painter so this is a new thing for me,” Bittencourt said Friday. “He made work fun to go to.”

Papenfuhs, a 37-year-old from Hampton, died Wednesday afternoon when the Bobcat vehicle he was operating on the ground level of a parking deck struck a parked flatbed trailer, officials said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Hackensack.

Bittencourt said he was with Papenfuhs minutes before the incident. The two were chatting about Papenfuhs’ new car, how he searched for weeks for the right model, and haggled down a price. His 6-speed black Volkswagen Passat was his new baby — and he was proud of it, Bittencourt said.

“He had been talking about that car for weeks,” Bittencourt said through tears. “He just got it days ago. He was so happy.”

The crash occurred in a dark area where equipment and materials were stored; since it was not a busy area, nobody was around, Bittencourt said. It wasn’t pitch black, he said. but there are so many things going on at the site, it needs more safety to increase visibility, he said. There there were no cones around the flatbed, he said.

“He must’ve taken a blind corner — I have no idea — and crashed into the end of the bed,” he said. “He was in surgery for six hours. The doctor told us about an hour about I got there that he was gone. And it all happened less than an hour before [our shift ended]."

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the New Jersey State Police have not provided an update on the cause of the crash, which remains under investigation. A first phase of the long-delayed mall and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands is set to open Oct. 25.

Papenfhus worked for Sentinal Systems LLC, of Hewitt, in West Milford. The company did not have any violation history with OSHA.

A phone number listed for Sentinal Systems went unanswered Friday afternoon.

Bittencourt said he believed the company “did the best they could." His boss rode to the hospital with Papenfuhs while waiting for his father to come from Michigan, and later joined Sentinal staffers at the hospital. Staffers were able to take Thursday and Friday off, he said.

Some colleagues went for drinks in his honor Thursday, and other employees will be gathering at a local hall for a small memorial.

"It was an accident, s--- happens sometimes and you can’t control life,” he said. “Eric was a big, lovable guy. He had a heart of gold, loved everyone, and I just want people to know he was really freakin’ awesome.”

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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