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…
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.”
I don’t feel sorry for you. A violation is a violation. Fix it and move on.
I give you 1:05’s last project:
http://www.ladylaila.net/blog/image/tondobldg02.jpg
12:46 is right.
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.
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?
Its called “building code” 1:05
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.
12:46 – you are a ninny.
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.