In relevant part, § 240(1) provides that, in the course of altering a structure, all contractors and owners and their agents who contract for — but do not direct or control — the work shall furnish safety equipment to their employees to protect them against the dangers incident to the alteration. We agree with the IAS court that the subject telephone pole and its wiring were a "structure" under the statute ( see Joblon v. Solow, 91 N.Y.2d 457; Lewis-Moors v. Contel of N.Y., 78 N.Y.2d 942, 943; Garrant v. New York Tel. Co., 179 A.D.2d 960, and that stripping the insulation from the subject cable wire was an "alteration" under the statute ( see Weininger v. Hagedorn Co., 91 N.Y.2d 958).