Department Of Buildings Issues
An audit performed by the city comptroller in Staten Island has found many of the cities worst structures to be open and actually occupied. The Department of Buildings recently discovered that twenty percent of the buildings listed on their “Multi-Hazardous Re-Inspection Program” were allowed to remain accessible through various loopholes in the system, including lack of access to certain properties and the fact that the Department did not have legal right to enforce fines on said property owners.
"But legislative policy is not the only reason the Department of Buildings is failing to ensure that hazardous conditions are neglected across the city. It’s just plain, old-fashioned neglect," City Comptroller William Thompson said.
The Department of Buildings in Staten Island is already under intense scrutiny for the amount of construction accidents that have occurred on the island this year, which has already surpassed the number of on site accidents for all of 2007. Jeff Lichtman, a senior partner at Trolman, Glaser and Lichtman, spoke regarding the serious nature of the issue:
Thanks to an audit by the City Comptroller William Thompson we now know that many serious building and property violations that were discovered in the past have been unresolved. Construction site deaths have been higher in the first 6 months of this year than all of last year. The citizens of New York are entitled to public safety, and in the event they are not provided such safety, the civil justice system is the means by which they can redress the wrongs.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am
[...] Glaser and Lichtman brings to light issues on Staten Island with the Department Of Buildings and safety problems that are arising from buildings that should be condemned but are allowed to stay open. Due to various issues with [...]