DoB Senior Official And Crane Companies Found To Be Corrupt

The title may not be so shocking to many New Yorkers, considering all of the accidents that occur in construction. Speed has always concerned the industry more than the safety of the workers, although you would hope that the Department of Buildings would be on their side. Well guess again. James Delayo, a senior inspector making $74,000 a year has been padding his salary with bribes from the crane companies to help them skirt regulations.

From The Gothamist:

The Department of Buildings' acting Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks was arrested today. James Delayo was accused of taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a crane company and falsifying reports. WNBC reports, "The city's Department of Investigation also says Delayo tampered with licensing exams by providing the answers for crane operator exams to a crane company for a fee."

Delayo's actions allegedly had nothing to do with last week's East 91st Street crane collapse or the March 15 crane collapse at East 51 Street. An official told City Room, "The long and short of it is that between 2002 and 2007 he accepted money — bribes for passing individual test-takers in order to get a crane operating license." Delayo, 60, earns a little over $74,000 annually. Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said:

"DOI's (Department of Investigation) investigation revealed the profoundly disturbing and sobering realization that a senior inspector responsible for ensuring that cranes operating in New York City are in proper condition and are operated by qualified individuals is charged with selling out his own integrity in a way that compromised public safety, leaving it in the hands of the individuals who paid him bribes, and rendered his inspectional job meaningless."

It seems that the entire Department is meaningless. Michael Bloomberg's outrage at this is also meaningless. His legacy for New York is an unprecendented building and development boom that prefers speed over safety without funding the Department of Buildings properly so that inspectors are plentiful, well-paid and looked after by well-trained hawks. Bloomberg can offer his stern warnings now, but where has he been in the last seven years?

New Twist In 91st Street Crane Collapse

When the first construction accidents occurred this year, the outcry was to have more inspectors working at the Department of Buildings so that there would be more oversight on the industry that seemed to put speed ahead of safety. Well the budget for the next year includes salary for a few dozen more, however there is another problem going on at DoB besides the amount of inspectors. Quality counts just as much.

From The Gothamist:

An insurance company executive, whose client owned the crane had once been repaired before collapsing on East 91st Street last Friday, said the Department of Buildings knew the crane's history. NationalBuilders Insurance Services executive vice president Kevin Cunningham said, "The DOB inspector certified that it was OK to go back to work."

While the insurance company says the 24-year-old tower crane's turntable crack was "minor," investigators suspect the re-welded crack might have given way and caused the collapse. The Department of Buildings told the Times it couldn't comment, because it didn't want to interfere with the investigation.

City officials, contractors, developers and others have been holding meetings to discuss construction and crane safety. The NY Times reported the city may consider to third-party crane inspecting, as there is in California. And the city just announced news safety measures, like construction workers will have to complete crane safety courses, restrictions on equipment (like not using the nylon strap in the March 15 crane collapse) and contractors receiving numbers to track safety.

The considerations taken under review by the city are important steps. It doesn't excuse the negligence beforehand but stopping any more unnecessary deaths is of the utmost concern. Of course contractors themselves need to be reigned in, it isn't like they build these vast structures in a vacuum. New York City is the most bustling city in this country and its residents, workers and tourists deserve piece of mind along with the workers that continuously build NYC up.

Another East Side Crane Disaster

Two thousand aught eight continues to be a tragic year for construction in New York City. Just an hour ago a crane collapsed at 1st Ave. and 91st St., killing at least two people one person (the crane operator) as of now. Reports from ABC7 say that other people are still trapped in the rubble. The area, already a mess from the building boom up there, is now sadly strewn with debris from the collapse.

From The Gothamist:

A crane collapsed at 1st Avenue and 91st Street on the Upper East Side around 8:15 a.m. According to initial reports, there are people trapped inside. There is wreckage on 91st Street, with FDNY and other emergency responder going through the rubble. The crane was located at a new construction site.

Crane safety and new construction has come under new scrutiny after the March 15 crane collapse that claimed the lives of 7 people--a civilian and six workers at a new condominium on East 51st Street. Earlier this week, the Department of Buildings announced that its inspectors will no longer be on site when cranes are built "or made taller". Per the NY Times, "Instead, inspectors will make spot checks of the crane raisings, known as jumps, and of safety meetings at which procedures for each jump must be laid out.

Update: The FDNY is reporting two fatalities at this point. Apparently the top of a crane--including the cab-- fell off (possibly 20-25 stories) and hit a building across the street (it looks like a penthouse across the street has a corner taken out of it). WABC 7 reports the crane may have been in full extension, snapped in half and hit the building.

Now the worry is that the building under construction may have structural problems from the impact. City officials are already out and about, Scott Stringer said it looks like a bomb went off and the Mayor is frustrated as well. Despite the recent departure of DoB head Patricia Lancaster, problems have not been solved and obviously more must be done to ensure the safety of construction workers and the busy Manhattan environment around them.

Tower Crane Collapse Shouldn't Have Happened, Building Plans Violated Code

It wasn't that long ago when a tower crane fell on several buildings in the Turtle Bay neighborhood, killing seven and injuring many more. It was a terrible tragedy and a giant wake-up call for city legislators who are finally realizing that the Department of Buildings is not keeping up with its obligation to keep construction sites safe. There are too many sites with greedy developers and not enough inspectors to make sure everything is legit. Yet for the soaring high-rise on 2nd Avenue and 52nd Street, the Department of Buildings didn't even bother to check (or care) to make sure the plans for the tower were copacetic for the area.

From The NY Times:

Under direct and often withering questioning by council members at the hearing of the Housing and Buildings Committee, called to review crane safety and inspection, Ms. Lancaster said the building under construction had been approved “not in accordance with the zoning regulation.”

“Wow,” said Councilwoman Jessica S. Lappin, whose district includes the site of the crane collapse. “You’re telling me this building should never have been approved in the first place?”

“That is correct,” Ms. Lancaster replied.

Other Councilmembers equally expressed their displeasure:

“We’re not Chicken Little,” said Councilwoman Rosie Mendez. “We’re saying the sky is falling because the sky is falling.”

Councilman Tony Avella said, “I don’t trust your agency to give me the correct time of day.”

It is a travesty that it has to come to public grillings by City Hall to make Lancaster and the DoB accountable for their neglect for the people of New York's safety. Something must change and change quickly, before the next "accident."

A Towering Problem

The relationships between New Yorkers and the cranes that build their skyscrapers are tenuous at best. As the New York Times describes, people are wary of them and more so in the wake of Saturday's tragic disaster in Turtle Bay. The question is, where do we go from here? Developers are heeding orders for brand new office space at a high rate and reward their subcontractors for a speedy delivery. Unfortunately that "free market" feel can, does and will create more disasters like we saw two days ago and other various mishaps that have happened since we started erecting skyscrapers.

Well one good idea is in the works and it has everything to do with accountability. Lets face it, the Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster should go. Obviously the tragedy at Trump SoHo earlier this year wasn't enough for her and someone needs to come in and restore order with all of the contractors that work in the city.

The fact that a building collapsed all on its own up in Harlem two weeks ago is another ominous sign. If we can not have adequate supervision of new buildings in one of New York's most affluent neighborhoods, how are we supposed to expect adequate surveillance of the hundreds of thousands of buildings that are already in existence across the five boroughs? One thing is for sure, if there is anything good to come from this accident, it is that the rules change from here on out.