Headline: Another Stop Work Order for Third & Bond
The New York City Department of Buildings issued a fifth stop work order (SWO) to the Third & Bond project last week. This SWO was for not having a completely secured plywood fence in the rear of the project. The fence had been removed in preparation for work and during discussions with the neighbor for access rights. The contractor and the neighbor had met in person at the property line to discuss replacing the fence at a future date. The public did not have access to the site from this location. The previous SWOs, now cleared, were for: 1) not having a DOB permit for asbestos removal (dismissed—only a DEP permit is necessary), 2) a 12 gap between sidewalk shed and fence, 3) not having a demo permit that specifically cited mechanical means, 4) demolishing the sprinkler of a 2-story building during demolition.

Didn’t see this news story last week on the New York Times homepage? Did you see this one? Crane Collapse, 2nd Since March, Kills 2 Workers…

Yes, while the City’s inspectors are issuing SWOs for the most minor issues and infractions there are people actually dying due to construction site safety issues. It seems that the City is still laboring under the Broken Window Theory, beloved by Giuliani. Remember this theory? The idea is that fixing small problems immediately will deter petty crime and thus major crime.

The problem is that we know cracking down on turnstile jumpers during Giuliani’s reign was also coupled with a waning crack epidemic and new jobs and housing programs. There’s just not a lot of evidence that managing disorder can prevent serious crime. Not that we don’t believe in people investing in keeping their neighborhood under close attention and care community policing is one of the best things we can do.

But while inspectors are fanning out across the City to inspect, issue and follow up on matters like the ones we’ve had at Third & Bond, there are horrible, horrible accidents happening elsewhere.

We’ve been hearing that there are too few crane inspectors, that they are under salaried and under qualified. Wouldn’t we all be better off if the City took up a Broken Crane Theory and put their resources into focusing on major health and safety issues first? It’s time for a common sense shift of resources.

At Third & Bond, the most dangerous thing we have going for us are two big holes we dug to see the water table (see photo above). Yes, if someone fell in there they could conceivably drown—if they laid face-down in the 6 or so of water down there. The likelihood of that happening to one of our workers—and not being pulled out in seconds (or climbing out himself)? We’d venture zero. Versus the almost as unlikely possibility of someone who is alone and trespassing? (But what is the trespasser doing sneaking through a crack in our fence onto private property anyway? Should we put a 6′ solid plywood fence around the Gowanus, and the Hudson, and the East River, and Jamaica Bay, and the Atlantic? Is there a chance someone might fall through one of those subway grates? Yes! In fact, it happened last year to a young woman who was minding her own business on a public sidewalk!)

We have safety first in mind at the construction site safety for workers, neighbors, and passers-by. That’s one of the reasons it has taken us months to sort through which pile type to use. But the exacerbation of the SWOs, which take weeks to months to lift, is frustrating when we see there are crane crashes and people dying. Sure, it’s tough for the City to manage the real estate boom that New York has been having. It’s impossible to prevent every single accident. It’s insensible to try to prevent every possible permutation of danger. But taking a step back and putting triage into place sounds like a good idea to us, given the accidents that have happened all over the City since we started up at (accident-free, knock on wood) Third & Bond.

Inside Third & Bond: Week 39 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 38 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 37 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 36 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 35 [Brownstoner]

From our lawyers: This is not an offering. No offering can be made until an offering plan is filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York.”