More Buildings Inspectors Promised
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Even as the number of stop-work orders at construction sites around the city soars, the acting buildings department chief is pledging even more vigilance and crackdowns.
Commissioner Robert LiMandri announced yesterday that 63 new positions would be added to the department’s payroll at a cost of $5.3 million, which was recently added to the budget. The additional employees bring the total number of inspectors and engineers hired since the launch of the agency’s special enforcement plan announced in July to 144. The agency now has a total of 461 inspectors, up from 277 in 2002.
“Development is crucial to New York, but it can’t come at the expense of safety,” Mr. LiMandri said yesterday in an interview. “We have to get our heads around this, and we have to bring construction in safely.”
Mr. LiMandri was appointed last month after Mayor Bloomberg accepted the resignation of Commissioner Patricia Lancaster following a series of highly publicized construction site accidents, including an East Side crane collapse that killed seven people. Mr. LiMandri has come into the role of commissioner saying the agency needs to get tougher.
Earlier this month, Mr. LiMandri threatened to revoke permits for a high-profile 220,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 808 Columbus Ave. on the Upper West Side. The buildings department said the project’s parking spaces and street curbs did not conform to the building code, but because the “developer is taking steps to address the objections,” the permits have not been revoked, according to a buildings department spokeswoman.
Developers are already dealing with a 79% increase in the number of stop-work orders between January and April. They will now be contending with new teams of inspectors and engineers that will be dedicated to reinspecting sites to make sure that previous citations have been resolved. New teams will also be more closely monitoring sidewalk sheds, and the construction industry can expect an increase in the number of audits, Mr. LiMandri said.
“This is not about stopping jobs. The last thing that you want to have happen is job sites not to be completed. We have to identify ways in which the industry can perform their construction safely,” he said.
The city is searching for a full-time replacement for Ms. Lancaster. Mr. Limandri said he is capable and willing to take on the job full time.
