Buildings Dept. Head Resigns Amid Heat On Crane Collapse

By ARI PAUL

Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned April 22, a month after a crane collapsed at a Manhattan construction site killing seven people, and a week after she told a City Council hearing that permits for building there were mistakenly issued.

PATRICIA LANCASTER: Takes the fall after collapse.

In the aftermath of the fatal March 15 collapse on East 51st St., Building Inspector Edward Marquette was arrested for allegedly making a false entry March 4 into his work log indicating that he had inspected the crane when he had not.

A Series of Snafus

In a statement, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, who represents the area, listed the problems the accident exposed.

"At a single site we had building plans approved in error, an inspector falsify a report, and a catastrophic accident the day after an inspector gave the site a green light," she said.

One of Ms. Lancaster's brightest moments came last May, when the DOB unveiled a new Building Code that took more than five years to put together, which included several regulations intended to increase fire safety.

JOHN J. McDONNELL: 'A beleaguered agency.'

"I am proud of the groundbreaking work the department has done during my tenure to root out corruption, increase transparency, overhaul the building code, and increase safety for workers and the public alike," Ms. Lancaster said in a statement.

In response, Mayor Bloomberg praised his former Commissioner, stating, "Patricia led a comprehensive overhaul of the city's byzantine building code, the first in 40 years, which will make the construction of homes, schools, stores and offices in New York City safer, more affordable, and more environmentally friendly for years to come."

But Uniformed Fire Officers Association President John J. McDonnell said that the Buildings Department under her leadership had failed to inspect the Deutsche Bank building - which was in the process of being demolished before a fire killed two responding Firefighters last August.

"There was supposed to be daily inspections taking place at that site," he said in a phone interview.

Union, Resident Worries

The building, which was in the shadow of the World Trade Center, was heavily damaged during 9/11. Before the demolition process began, labor and residents' groups voiced concerns about the safety of the simultaneous abatement process and the capabilities of one of the subcontractors, the John Galt Corporation.

Mr. McDonnell has been critical of both the DOB and the Fire Department since the fire, and three fire officers responsible for the monitoring the building were reassigned. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the State Attorney General are still investigating the incident.

Last May, the UFOA and the other fire unions backed the Building Code changes Ms. Lancaster introduced, though they did not include their demand for a requirement that black iron, a fire-retardant substance, be used in all new construction.

"I just felt that the Department of Buildings was an agency that was so entrenched in difficulties, whether it was at the upper-management level or the street-inspector level, and I don't think enough emphasis came from the Mayor's Office to address that," Mr. McDonnell said. "As a manager of an agency that's beleaguered with problems, I'm not sure she was up to the job."