The Comptroller’s office issued a report on an audit of the Department of Buildings that found the DOB has failed to properly reinspect many construction sites it had deemed hazardous. “It is simply unacceptable that D.O.B. has permitted buildings with multiple open hazardous violations to go un-inspected for years,” said Comptroller Bill Thompson in a statement. “Even by DOB’s admission, these are the worst cases, yet it has stood by and let the violations go unchecked and put New Yorkers at risk. The Department of Buildings’ violation enforcement is crucial to ensuring that buildings in the city are being constructed safely and pose no risks to area residents.” The report includes 11 recommendations for how the DOB can improve its reinspection tactics. First response from neighborhood groups to the audit findings comes out of Queens: “City Comptroller Bill Thompson identified the magnitude of concerns consistently raised by Queens Civic Congress, Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance and Historic Districts Council,” said Corey B. Bearak, President of Queens Civic Congress, in a press release. And Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council, noted that “it’s good to see our elected officials confirming what we in the community have known for years—that the Buildings Department is broken and needs to be fixed.”
Audit Says Follow-Up on Buildings Is Lacking [NY Times]
PDF: Audit Report [nyc.gov]
Photo by ddunleavy.