A chunk of what you pay to the state of New York is going to go the defense of LMDC. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is a state agency that is being probed for criminal negligence due to two firefighters deaths in August when the old bank building was ablaze. They died because they were trapped with no water because the standpipe they were to rely on was deliberately cut. Now the LMDC is spending a million dollars of our state's money to defend themselves.
From Newsday:
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s board on Thursday approved the contract with Dechert LLP to represent the state rebuilding agency in probes into the blaze at the former Deutsche Bank tower. It was among $10.4 million in expenses approved to continue the cleanup and dismantling of the 26-story tower just across from the World Trade Center site.
The Manhattan district attorney's office and the state attorney general's office are investigating the fire at the partially dismantled, contaminated building, which officials have blamed on a construction worker's tossed cigarette.
But the probes have focused on oversight for the LMDC-owned tower, which had no fire plan; a deliberately cut standpipe that hampered firefighting efforts in the blaze; and the selection process for contractors and subcontractors.
The inaction of LMDC is telling enough of how they cared for the safety in that damaged building. Instead of confessing to the obvious, LMDC and the city are trying their best to escape blame by throwing taxpayer dollars to attorneys that might or might not get them off from being held responsible. This is a cowardly act to say the least. Both the LMDC and city agencies should quit this crap and stand up to be held accountable. Those two dead firefighters and their families deserve as much.
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