Commissioner Criticizes Buildings Dept. in Collapse
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The city’s Department of Buildings did not properly process an emergency declaration to repair a building that collapsed in Harlem on Tuesday, the commissioner of the department, Patricia Lancaster, said.
The Buildings Department had put the owner of the building, the Kushner Companies, on notice of the building’s unsafe condition and issued an immediate emergency declaration on January 11, Ms. Lancaster said. The declaration, which was not properly processed, would have enabled the city to secure the building at the owner’s expense if the owner did not immediately perform the work, Ms. Lancaster said.
During an inspection on January 23, department inspectors did not properly act on the declaration, Ms. Lancaster said.
“This lapse is unacceptable and we will take appropriate measures — including disciplining anyone who did not do their job — to ensure that this does not happen again,” she said.
