Council Bill Would Limit Blasting Time
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Builders in the city may face new restraints on construction that requires the use of explosives. A proposed City Council bill would tighten regulations on blasting permits and shorten the duration that contractors would be allowed to blast to three months from three years, council members said yesterday.
The legislation was drafted after the collapse in July of a retaining wall at an Upper West Side apartment building near the intersection of West 97th Street and Columbus Avenue. The collapse occurred a few hours after a series of blasts at an adjacent construction site.
Speaker Christine Quinn said that after the collapse, she and other council members began reviewing the city’s laws related to the use of explosives on construction sites.
“The truth is, they’re not very good,” she said. “The truth is they really leave it up to luck.”
The blasting bill would require a representative from the Department of Buildings or the fire department to attend blasts at private construction sites, and would require all blasting to be done by people who have earned a special certificate from the fire department.
Blasting permits would require approval from the fire department and other agencies, such as the Department of Buildings or the Department of Transportation, and notices would have to be posted in a neighborhood at least a few days before blasting.
The president of the Real Estate Board of New York, Steven Spinola, said it would be problematic if the bill required a city official to be at a construction site during blasting.
It is not easy to get “inspections now after you’ve completed plumbing work or electrical work,” he said. “I don’t know how they do that unless they are dramatically increasing staff.”
He said he supports enforcing the existing laws governing the use of explosives on construction sites, saying that if people break the rules, they should face the penalties.
“It is difficult building in the city of New York and when an accident happens, like recently, it usually gets more difficult,” Mr. Spinola said. “At least for a period of time, because government tends to be a little bit overreactive.”
