Trump Contractor, Dept Of Buildings Could (And Should) Be In Serious Trouble

What happened on Monday at the Trump SoHo construction site is a terrible tragedy that should have been avoided. Building violations, a ridiculous and unsafe speed of construction and the aura of the Donald has resulted in the death of what friends and co-workers describe as a smiling, happy worker and a good-natured father. Instead of this Ukrainian immigrant working for his slice of the American dream, it was lost due to the greed that surrounds Donald Trump.

From The Gothamist:

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors.

The NY Times notes that another worker, also working for subcontractor DiFama Concrete, died when he fell 60 feet at the site of a Midtown building in 2004. Since then, the Brooklyn-based company has been "repeatedly cited for serious safety violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration," with 11 of 17 federal violations being "described as serious."

The Daily News has photographs from the roof (pictured) right after the collapse and reports that the Department of Buildings found the wooden forms "did not meet industry standards." Staffers from the Manhattan DA's office were seen at the building site, 246 Spring Street - apparently DA Robert Morgenthau is monitoring the city's investigation.

Obviously the Department of Buildings isn't up to do it's job. If the Manhattan DA's office has to step in, you know there's a whole lotta shit going on in the DoB that needs to be aired out for all to see. Councilman Avella is out for blood, particularly that of Patricia Lancaster who runs the DoB who did not issue a stop-work order. I wish that ugly piece of crap was never built. It has been a stain on SoHo since it was sketched out and now it is cursed as well.

Say Goodbye To SoHo

SoHo is about to change along with a lot of the city, another victim of the gentrification and real estate wars. The city struck down an attempt to stop Donald Trump from building a 46-story residential tower by the Holland Tunnel because of a loophole. Once it is finished being built, many are afraid that the area South of Houston will be spotted with these thirty, forty or more story buildings, towering over what we know of the neighborhood now. The Donald obviously does not care, taking his conquest of the city to new heights (no pun intended).

From The Daily News:

What is not permitted is a residential use, so the new Trump tower must be packaged as a hotel and not as a condo building. But in a deal negotiated by city officials, the hotel rooms will be bought like condos.

"He's calling it a hotel but it's really going to be a building primarily for residential use," Sweeney said Monday.

Under the project's so-called restrictive declaration, no owner will be able to occupy a unit for a continuous period of more than 29 days in any 36-day period or for more than 120 days in a calendar year.

SoHo Alliance attorney Stuart Klein asked the city Department of Buildings to revoke the building's permit in a July 24 letter.

Klein, formerly the top lawyer with the Department of Buildings, said the 29-out-of-36-days rule would be unenforceable.

"It sets up a mechanism that's simply not going to be followed," he said Monday.

Shopaholics shouldn't fear of course, the trendy boutiques will stay in their area, as long as their economic output stays high. What is worrisome is that the SoHo we know is under attack from the most devilish real estate tycoon out there. My fear is that the neighborhoods that make New York the greatest city in the country (if not the world) is slowly being stripped down to a hollow shell of expensive monstrosities of glass, steel and concrete. Who knows, in a generation or two they might even come after Greenwich Village. If that happens, I for one will be on the barricades, metaphorically speaking.