Are the DOB Commish's Days Numbered?
Outrage over Department of Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster’s management of her agency is growing amidst revelations that the DOB approved plans for a glass tower on East 51st Street that flouted zoning regulations. Seven people died at the tower’s construction site last month after a crane collapsed. According to an article in the Times, even…
Outrage over Department of Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster’s management of her agency is growing amidst revelations that the DOB approved plans for a glass tower on East 51st Street that flouted zoning regulations. Seven people died at the tower’s construction site last month after a crane collapsed. According to an article in the Times, even Mayor Bloomberg is having a hard time defending the DOB nowadays. I don’t think anybody should be fully satisfied with the Department of Buildings’ performance, the mayor said yesterday. Whether somebody could have done a better job — I’m trying to — whether they could have done a better job I just don’t know. Indeed, it is a hard thing to “know,” since the mayor’s administration has been so staunchly pro-development that the DOB has clearly had a problem enforcing safety standards for all the building’s it’s approved. You have a Buildings Department that seems more interested in preserving the rights of developers at the expense of citizens and the community, said Bruce Silberblatt, a retired contractor. Thirteen people have died in construction-related accidents so far this year, one more fatality than in all of 2007. “If there’s more construction, it makes common sense that you probably have more accidents or mistakes made,” the mayor is quoted as saying in the Post. “But that’s not an excuse. I’m looking at the Buildings Department the same ways I’m looking at every single other agency in this city.” Lancaster says she’s done a lot to reform the DOB since taking it over in 2002 and notes that she serves “at the pleasure of Mayor Bloomberg…I know we have much more to do to, and as long as I have the mayor’s support, I will forge ahead and continue to strengthen the Buildings Department’s oversight and regulation of the construction industry.”
As Construction Deaths Rise, Buildings Chief Faces Scrutiny [NY Times]
Mayor Dissatisfied With Buildings Department [NY Sun]
Mike Rips Construx Agency [NY Post]
Photo from the Observer.
“DO you realy believe this one woman was the problem? You think it’s going to be better tomorrow.”
She was the boss when the problems happened, so she has to take the blame. Period.
“DO you realy believe this one woman was the problem? You think it’s going to be better tomorrow.”
She was the boss when the problems happened, so she has to take the blame. Period.
Every other city agency has to do more with less. The better Commissioners figure out ways to put the fire under those lazy ass civil servants who work for them, she should have done the same.
It’s like trying to dislodge a mollusk. I guess enough people died this year that Lancaster finally got the picture through her thick skull.
Can you say “scapegoat”?
DO you realy believe this one woman was the problem? You think it’s going to be better tomorrow. Clueless.
Isn’t the bigger issue that the DOB is woefully under-staffed? Bad leadership is of course a problem. But how can the city enforce the already-meager regulations that are on the books with so few people to do the work?
She just resigned. Good riddance.
If her days aren’t numbered, they should be. Other City Commissioners have lost their heads for less.
Hinkson was the DoB Commissioner out on S.I. for awhile…between jobs.