On the Eastside, giant cranes and new high-rise buildings are on nearly a third of each densely populated block—the same blocks that experienced the tragic crane accident last week that claimed seven lives and left scores injured and displaced from their homes.

And we have now learned that we cannot rely on the Department of Building's (DOB) system of inspection. At least one inspector admitted he didn’t show up. His falsifying of inspection reports is indicative of unanswered concerns that I have expressed over the years. 

I no longer accept their "freak accident" excuses.

The problems at the DOB are systemic and top to bottom changes are needed. Step one is for DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster to step down. I do not recall a time since being elected that I have advocated for someone's resignation. But the problems within the DOB are so severe that it has become clear to me that new leadership is needed to make those changes. to ensure the safety of construction workers and residents.

New leadership is one component—but there is a more. The City needs to step up. The city has an ineffective penalty and deterrence model, has allowed the industry to police itself, and has under staffed agencies charged with oversight. As Robert Guskind of the website Gowanus Lounge says, even if the department "functioned like a well-oiled machine that rigorously enforced city regulations, its inspectors are still overwhelmed by the level of construction."

Because few are held responsible for their misdeeds, the lack of enforcement along with an extremely hot real estate market, has allowed many developers and their contractors ignore safety requirements, disregard building codes and violate zoning laws. Those that are held accountable view the petty fine as "the cost of doing business" rather than as a deterrent.

Since the city has been resistant to mandating stricter safety standards, and the department isn't moving forward on its own, I will be advocating a number of changes in the State Legislature, including:

• Ending self-certification for the construction of all high-rise buildings: The DOB has abdicated its responsibility to developers allowing some to make false certifications about the safety of their own projects. A 2007 city comptroller's audit found that 50 percent of sampled construction plans submitted this way had errors;
• Increasing penalties and professional sanctions for those who show patterns of violating regulations, safety standards and zoning laws;
• Requiring the department re-inspect and abate hazardous violations and significantly increase the oversight of development sites, prioritizing the frequency of inspections to those sites with histories of violations;
• Mandating clear lines of responsibility for developers, contractors and their subcontractors. Developer often subcontract out different phases of construction, and when someone goes wrong, it is not clear who is the responsible party;
• Increasing fines for developers cited with violations, and streamlining the process so that developers bring their sites up to code within days, or at most a few weeks, or be forced to stop their work.
• Increasing the number of inspectors. If the City continues to resist that funding, the cost of permits must be raised accordingly to fund new inspectors and a faster penalty system.

 

We cannot accept a model of construction safety that relies on a neighbor seeing something, reporting it, and hoping someone does their job and follows up on their complaint. Though residents are encouraged to report problems, the role of the DOB should be to prevent problems beforehand.

Under the absence of leadership and a continued lack of enforcement, oversight and accountability within the DOB, those developers and construction firms who put profit before the safety of the public and their workers, will continue to shirk our laws and codes.