At a City Council hearing yesterday on improving safety at construction sites, reps from the real estate industry and construction unions called for the Department of Buildings to be shut down, according to an article in the Times. Builders want the DOB to be replaced by a public corporation charged with overseeing construction. The Buildings Department is collapsing under the weight of its own reform, said Louis J. Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association. Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said the corporation would do more to protect the safety of the public, as well as construction workers, than most of the 12 bills submitted at the Council. Those bills, which were also discussed yesterday, include a proposal to have the DOB appoint independent safety inspectors at the expense of developers for sites with a history of violations. Robert LiMandri, the acting DOB commissioner, endorsed the independent inspector idea but is against a bill proposed by Councilmember Letitia James that would involve setting up a whistleblower’s hot line.
Many Propose Ways to Make Construction Sites Safer [NY Times]
Photo by Boon Wuldenhoos