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June 5, 2008

Inside Third & Bond: Week 40

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."

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Comments

quit your bitching about the SWO and just fix it and move on.

Nice that you try to spin this by blaming the bldgs department's failures recent crane collapse, where two people died.

That is a classy move.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:09 PM

Ok - i feel for you with the DOB - there is really nothing worse, but using that as an analogy to why the broken window theory has no legitimacy is just stupid. Did you live here in the 70s and 80s? Believe me, there was plenty of crime before the crack epidemic. that policing method has been extraodinarily effective - and proves to be again and again - see Newark for example. Although the murder rate is still bad, other crimes are way down since they implemented it.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:13 PM

You started this blog as some sort of public relations move, yet you are succeeding in achieving the opposite. We don't feel sorry for you.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:26 PM

i feel sorry for him. DOB is a nightmare and he makes a valid point about the slew of huge accidents while everyone else is getting Mr.Minutia-ed to death.

This is a particularly interesting time to see this project unfold, since we could be watching slow-mo financial ruin in action if real estate has completely tanked by the time they are ready to sell.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:38 PM

I think what's he's trying to say is that alot of the manpower for the DoB ends up going towards minor matters at smaller jobsites rather than the larger, complex jobs. Based on my own experience I agree.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:44 PM

Sorry to pile on, but i kind of agree w/ the above posters.

i think we all understand the stress and the risk involved in your profession, but c'mon - rules are rules, and the biggest problem is that way too many a-hole developers have been bending, breaking, and ignoring these rules for so long that the DOB has been forced to go "0 tolerance."

And it's likely that the DOB had nothing to do with last week's crane tragedy anyway, which makes your post seem even more smug and cavalier.

AND, how would you feel if some 8 year-old kid wormed his way through your fence and ended up in a test piling full of water? Who are you to say the probability of death is 0%? And by the way, the 12" gap between sidewalk shed and fence is plenty of room for a brick or tool to crack someone's skull open, so I don't really see your objection to the DOB's astute discovery of your mistake either. I worked in the trades for a long time and I know how often tools and materials get dropped accidentally.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:46 PM

12:46 - you are a ninny.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:00 PM

does that mean there goes the 421a and the sales points you need to hit. if so sorry, i do feel bad for you guy. your foundation should have been completed months ago, if not for DOB and piles. i still don't get why you even need piles. most foundations are an 18" slab of concrete, that's it. you're not building a skyscraper, just 4-5 story townhouses. i don't get it. most townhouses in the neighborhood have riverstone foundation walls and dirt floors in cellar. they've stood for almost 200 yrs. i don't get why the complicated foundation.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:05 PM

Its called "building code" 1:05

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 5, 2008 1:23 PM

Not the most interesting post but thanks for not skipping this week. Also i would really love to read about the equity on this project. Is it all Hudson's do you have other investors. What is the return that you seek? If there are other investors what return do you provide for them? Also given the slowing condo market what do you plan on doing with the eqity once you sell out?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:29 PM

You might get the benefit of the doubt here if this were the first or second occurrence. For the fifth? Not so much. Your situation clearly illustrates that the inspection efforts are not a waste of resources, since you're apparently not following the rules, as I imagine many others are not.

I'd like to hear brownstoner's take on this... They seem to find it very newsworthy and cackle with glee every time one of their whipping boy developments gets an SWO.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:33 PM

12:46 is right.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:40 PM

I give you 1:05's last project:

http://www.ladylaila.net/blog/image/tondobldg02.jpg

Posted by: johnife at June 5, 2008 1:44 PM

I don't feel sorry for you. A violation is a violation. Fix it and move on.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:45 PM

While I can understand your frustration dealing with DOBs sometimes arbitrary rules, bringing the deaths related to the crane accident is really inappropriate and in very bad taste.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at June 5, 2008 1:51 PM

Boo hoo. Better to have skipped the week than to post this garbage.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:58 PM

that is what your job superintendent should be taking care of before there is a violation issued. Most job supers have very little to do at this stage. they should be walking the site every morning and every evening keeping their eyes open for potential violations.
Also stop whining. If you can't keep your fence together why whould anyone believe you can build a building.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:01 PM

The triage idea makes sense, but first make a priority listing of violations. Not posting the work permit shouldn't have priority over that 12 inch gap. (Inspectors should have a listing of who does have the permits anyway, whether or not they are posted.) I'd ask the union people to do that- tradesmen and construction workers whose lives depend on how safe a site is would have really valuable insight whereas I wouldn't trust a developer to think safety over money. Self-certification is a case in point.

Posted by: bxgrl at June 5, 2008 2:08 PM

I think the point is that a SWO takes a long time to resolve and no work can be done in the interim. So even if the fix is small and quick it can add significant delays and therefore costs to the project.

If the DOB is overzealous in their enforcement of small issues and causes lots of delays for very minor infractions then the cost of building in NY will go even higher than it already is.

Higher costs mean higher sales prices must be paid or less gets built. Either way, the cost of housing goes up so everyone suffers.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:08 PM

"If you can't keep your fence together why whould anyone believe you can build a building."

Hilarious.

Thanks 2:01

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:10 PM

Sorry, no sympathy. I have construction next door to me and the little things can end up being huge. Case in point: Developer next door had installed catch platforms at each story to the side of the building to catch debris and mortar instead of installing scaffolding, which he never offered to do despite mortar splatter all over my house and property. I had to call the DOB after numerous calls to the developer about some bricks and a lot of mortar continuing to rain into my yard and the platforms starting to bow quite a bit. Back when the DOB seemed to let the little things go, the inspector came out and pronounced that the platforms were fine, falling bricks and debris was to be expected. Also said that though he didn't measure, he "didn't think the area between my house and the site was wide enough for scaffolding" or that he could do anything about the builder jackhammering huge holes into my walkway cement on my property.

Guess what? A few weeks later, the catch platforms at the top collapsed, taking each platform at all floors down with it. Hundreds of pounds of mortar and 4x8 sheets of plywood on my house, damaging siding, walkway, roof, gutters etc not to mention that someone could have been KILLED.

The kicker: Developer never had required permits for those catch platforms and they were improperly built. If the DOB was being a little more stringent about the "small things" that would've been caught and accident prevented. Scaffolding in the "too narrow" area miraculously was able to be was erected but I'm still waiting for the money to pay for damages. Just follow the rules and you'll be just fine and you won't be getting a phone call about some kid entering the back of your site and somehow hurting himself.

Posted by: kensington gal at June 5, 2008 3:09 PM

Stop Work Orders almost always allow for work to continue to remedy the violation.
Right on poster 2:01. Why is it that no one can build a half decent fence for God's sake?
The demo without the right mechanical permit? Again, common knowledge.
I got to say that it's a pathetic excuse to blame the DoB for doing their job. Anyone developing property must know there are special enforcement teams making surprise inspections at sites doing excavation work all over BK right now.
Here's a perfect example of the DOB finally doing things by the book. Better late than never. http://imby.blogspot.com/

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 4:43 PM

You're paying for the sins of the Brooklyn boom. All this petty stuff (and the bigger stuff) was ignored, and now everyone is fed up. If flooding the zone and citing every small problem makes developers pay more attention (which it should), big problems are less likely to happen. Yeah, its broken window policing, but there are a hell of a lot of broken windows out there.

Posted by: WBer at June 5, 2008 6:48 PM

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June 5, 2008

Inside Third & Bond: Week 40

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