DOB Reform Rally; Scarano Charged

The Four Borough Neighborhood Alliance held a rally on the steps of City Hall this afternoon demanding reform of the DOB. I was there, along with numerous elected officials, other council hopefuls and civic organizations.

Raul Rothblatt of Four Borough put together a powerful alliance to call for reform. I am reminded that it was just in April that John Hatheway, Vince Favorito and I went to the Assembly hearing on DOB's governance failings to provide testimony on stricter regulation. Sure lancaster was ousted, but to what effect? At the hearing, it was clear to all that the interim successor, LiMandri, was an apologist for the current regime and would not effect change.

Sure enough, LiMandri's DOB pulled back their crane inspections as soon as they thought no one was looking . . . just in time for another tragedy to occur. We need REAL change at DOB . . . there is talk of loosening requirements to let LiMandri become the permanent DOB Commissioner. This is exactly wrong: LiMandri must GO!

In better news, Brownstoner reports that the DOB has finally taken action against scofflaw architect and serial bad actor Robert Scarano. The entire City press release is posted at Brownstoner. Check it out.

Credit where due; more like this please.

2 Dead In Manhattan Crane Collapse

Via Curbed.

What in bloody hell is it going to take before we reform the Department of Buildings? This is the singular failure of the Bloomberg administration: an abject failure to exert even a modicum of restraint on development in this City.

The Wild West atmosphere of development has to be checked. As we've seen lately in the finance arena, anything the Bush administration is supposed to regulate, and tragically our DOB: when regulators turn a blind eye, abuses will multiply.

Beef up enforcement at DOB . . . and end the disgrace of self-certification NOW. Getting rid of DOB chief Patricia Lancaster (who "resigned" in disgrace after the last crane collapse) was only a start. Lancaster's interim successor, Robert LiMandri, proved to be an evasive apologist for the administration and the DOB when grilled at the Assembly hearing on April 24th. Vince Favorito, John Hatheway and I were all at the hearing to submit testimony on reforming the DOB.

Credit where due: Assemblymember Jim Brennan has been one of the choice few that has shown true leadership in this area. Remember that at election time.

Lancaster OUT at DOB

Well, this is tremendous news.

Facing pressure from City Hall and growing criticism for a spike in fatal construction accidents, Buildings Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first commissioner to leave the Bloomberg administration under a cloud of public controversy.

We can only hope that this resignation engenders the same kind of sea change as the replacement of Iris Weinshall with Jeanette Sadik-Khan at DOT. The person at the top sets the tone for the whole organization. Of course, you need the Mayor's support . . . but Bloomberg has shown big changes before, and perhaps this signals positive change coming at DOB.

And here I am, and many others across the city I'm sure, preparing testimony for the Assembly Hearing on DOB's shortcomings and a passel of bills by Assemblymen Brennan, Lentol, and Hevesi to reform DOB. I think Lancaster was smart to get out of dodge before being ripped a new one publicly on Thursday morning.

We can and must do better. Let's start, Mayor Bloomberg, with having a panel that includes interests besides developers and the building trades vet the next DOB commissioner.

Previously at FirstandCourt: Scarano - Lancaster Scandal

Ending Illegal Curb Cuts, and Self-Certification

I went to the CB6 Transportation Committee hearing last night to comment on Intro 619 and 620, which aim to crack down on illegal curb cuts. (For the record, although the committee didn't have quorum, those present overwhelmingly favored the measures).

Last night was the first time I was able to see the language of the bills (which I wholeheartedly support). Intro 619 operates by adding a clause to a sentence in Section 27-143 (which governs DOB's examination of applications and plans) to expressly forbid the commissioner to allow self-certification of curb cuts. A good start.

I would go further and end self-certification altogether. Section 27-143 includes one little sentence that has been an endless source of chicanery and malfeasance:

The commissioner may, at his or her discretion, when the application is submitted by an architect or engineer, designate portions of the examination for limited supervisory check.

This sentence allows a horror show of a DOB commissioner, for example, say, Patricia Lancaster, to abdicate responsibility for building plans to a developers hired guns.

Intro 619 would limit that power to exclude curb cuts. I would eliminate it altogether and put an end to self-certification once and for all. Chalk it up as one more miserable failure from the hand of Rudy Giuliani.