Mayor Wants To End Professional Criteria For Buildings Head

By ARI PAUL

Mayor Bloomberg is pushing a bill that would eliminate the requirement that the Buildings Commissioner be a licensed engineer or registered architect.

PATRICIA LANCASTER: Expertise wasn't enough.

"This legislation would enable the Mayor to select from the widest pool of qualified candidates when appointing a Commissioner of the Department of Buildings," a memorandum in support from the Mayor's Office stated. "The Commissioner will rely on licensed professionals who will report to the Commissioner."

Unwanted Spotlight

The department has been the subject of intense public criticism lately. Patricia Lancaster resigned April 22 from her position as Commissioner 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.

An Inspector was arrested for falsely reporting that he had inspected the crane after someone contracted the department voicing concerns about its stability.

Political consultant George Arzt said that Buildings Commissioners were at one point not held to the requirement of being licensed professionals, noting that commissioners during the Beame and Lindsay administrations did not have such qualifications.

The Government Operations Committee of the City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill on May 7.