Here’s something pretty interesting that jumped out at us from an email from the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights about a meeting some of the group’s members had with DOB Commissioner Mossad on Monday. Mossad was discussing how the implementation earlier this year of Rule 52—which requires developers and contractors to notify DOB 48 hours before beginning excavation—has strengthened the department’s enforcement ability. To do a small test of how well developers were playing by the rules, DOB blanketed the 40 new development sites in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that were in the excavation phase with inspectors. Guess how well the developers did on the test? They failed. Over half received violations, with 14 of those being shut down. Mossad is hoping to use the results to convince DOB head Lancaster to provide more resources for cracking down borough-wide. Sounds good to us.
Photo by runs with scissors